Romania to build second nuclear power plant by 2020

Rising oil and gas prices have led Romanian authorities to decide on building by 2020 a second nuclear power plant, reports BBC Monitoring.

The director of Nuclearelectrica power plant, Teodor Chirica, said that the project would ensure 35 per cent of Romania's energy needs. The new plant will probably be located in Transylvania, central Romania, near the Mures, Somes or Olt Rivers.

It will have a 1200 MW capacity, which is half the output of Romania's sole nuclear facility in Cernavoda, in southeast Romania. The Cernavoda plant uses Canadia's Candu reactor, but the new plant is set to use different technology. The feasibility studies for the location, started in the 1980s, will be resumed this summer.

According to experts, the French company Areva, the main constructor of nuclear power plants worldwide, will participate in the construction of the plant in Romania. "Romania needs a second plant as energy demand is permanently on the rise and fossil energy will be replaced," said Philippe Garderet, scientific director of Areva, who is visiting Bucharest.

Garderet said that France could invest in Romania including in uranium exploitation, Ziarul Financiar informs.

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