This policy paper examines the evolving role of nuclear energy globally and in Europe. It focuses on Romania’s nuclear expansion and its challenges.
Romania’s nuclear programme, consisting of refurbishing Unit 1, building two CANDU reactors (Units 3 & 4) at Cernavodă, and an SMR at Doicești based on American technology, is valued at over EUR 15 billion. The country’s recent attempt to fund the Unit 1 refurbishment as non-priority projects under the Modernisation Fund found no EU-level precedent.
Also affecting Romania’s nuclear expansion is its diminished manufacturing base, with no new construction in decades. Suppliers cannot invest without guaranteed orders. Romania will also need more nuclear engineers than universities currently produce, especially for construction-phase work ahead of 2030–2035 commissioning targets, making the programme dependent on an international workforce likely to be in short supply.
Author’s Insights:
„Romania’s nuclear programme needs to move from political consensus to binding action Deepening our international partnerships should be an explicit objective of Romania’s nuclear diplomacy. On financing, Romania should move decisively toward an integrated financing architecture for each project, in particular after the European Comission’s decision on the state aid for the refurbishment of Unit 1. We also need to develop a national nuclear skills taskforce, pre-FID training commitments with Nuclearelectrica and key contractors, and a procurement framework with conditional order guarantees for domestic suppliers. And given declining public favourability, Romania requires a coordinated institutional nuclear communication strategy and formal early-participation mechanisms.”
– Alina Arsani
For or further details and media inquiries, please contact Alina Arsani: alina.arsani@epg-thinktank.org
This report has been prepared by Energy Policy Group (EPG) with support from Clean Air Task Force (CATF), but all views are of EPG. This report received no financial support from the government, industry and private sector and it was prepared based on publicly available data, information, articles and scientific publications.
EPG would like to thank Andrei Covatariu, Ruxandra Pătrașcu and Noémie Roussel for their contribution to this policy paper.