PARIS/FRANKFURT, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Power groups GDF Suez, Iberdrola and RWE said on Thursday they were pulling out of a multi-billion dollar nuclear project in Romania, confirming an earlier report by Reuters.
"Economic and market-related uncertainties surrounding this project, related for the most part to the present financial crisis, are not reconcilable now with the capital requirements of a new nuclear power project," the groups said in a joint statement.
The Romanian state will take a decision in 2011 on the make-up of the company set to construct two new nuclear reactors in Romania’s existing site in Cernavoda, Constanta county, Minister of Economy Ion Ariton told The Diplomat
This will further delay the development of the four billion Euro, 1,500 MW power plant development and is likely to contribute to pushing back its commissioning date of 2015 to 2017 at the earliest.
Italian utilities company Enel will decide on its involvement in the nuclear project company, set up by the Romanian state with major European partners to complete the 3rd and the 4th reactors of Cernavoda nuclear plant, when the reforms in the power generation sector become predictable. The decision depends critically on the alteration of the market regulations besides the setting up of the two state power companies in the generation sector, Enel officials told Bloomberg agency quoted by local media.
Romania could export more electricity to Bulgaria, according to Adrian Baiscusi, general manager of Romanian power grid operator Transelectrica (TEL).
Baicusi has stated, as cited by Act Media, that as a result of Turkey joining the European electricity network (UCTE) in September, Romania should have opportunities to export
energy to the south.
Czech power firm ČEZ will quit a joint venture to build two units at Romania's sole nuclear power plant by December and seek other low-risk projects in the region, a company official was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Romania, whose state-owned nuclear power firm already has two 706 megawatt reactors at its plant in Cernavodă, accounting for roughly 18 percent of the country's power, had planned plans to build two more in partnership with six foreign firms.
Cernavoda nuclear plant´s unit two was briefly stopped yesterday morning, because of a leak of primary agent within the reactor´s protective building. "No problems were registered in connection with protection of employees, equipment and environment, as the entire security system functioned in line with regulations," Nuclearelectrica, the company which operates the plant, said in a release.
High-level nuclear waste from across the European Union could be shipped to eastern Europe for burial in a central underground storage facility under plans being considered by EU member states.
The Times has learnt that the project, which comes amid a resurgence of interest in nuclear power, could be given the green light later this year by the European Commission. Ewoud Verhoef, deputy director of Covra, the agency responsible for the storage of the Netherlands´ nuclear waste, said: "The nuclear programme in Holland is small and the cost of building a geological repository is very high. We only have one nuclear reactor in the Netherlands so there would be big advantages to a shared solution."
The contradictory declarations made over time by the management of the National Company Nuclearelectrica and the Autonomous Administration for Nuclear Activities make us believe that something is rotten with the nuclear reactors in Cernavodă: either the emanated tritium concentration is much higher than it should be, thus jeopardizing the environment, or we already have a large surplus of heavy water, in which case it is not justified to continue production until 2017...
Balkan states are gambling on the nuclear option as the best way to reduce the energy shortage but whether the risks pay off remains to be seen.
The three guards stand at the gate in the 40°C afternoon heat, ignoring the bustle around them. Grim-looking barbed wire coils round the top of the tall fence, as if designed to stop convicts escaping from prison.
RWE Power, Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica and five other partners have given the provisional go-ahead for an investment contract towards the creation of a joint venture company in Romania.
The contract will be signed by the participating companies upon approval by the Romanian government. The contract seeks to construct Unit-3 and Unit-4 of the Cernavoda nuclear power station in Romania, using the Canadian CANDU reactor technology.
