Nuclearelectrica signed on Tuesday with Candu Energy Inc., a company of AtkinsRéalis (SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.), and the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a federal public corporation, signed today, November 28, 2023, a contract worth 781 million Canadian dollars (about 520 million euros ). ). The contract provides for the supply of tools and components, as well as engineering and technological services to extend the life of CNE Cernavodă unit 1.

The contract was signed in Paris

The contract signing took place at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris in a ceremony attended by Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade of Canada (Ministry responsible for CCC), Dan Dragan, Secretary of State, Ministry of Energy of Romania, Teodor Chirica, President of the SNN Board of Directors , Bobby Kwon, President and CEO, CCC, Ian Edwards, President and CEO, AtkinsRéalis and Joe St. Julian, President Nuclear, AtkinsRéalis.

The contract’s entry into force is subject to approval by SNN’s general meeting of shareholders, CCC receiving final approval from the Canadian government, Nuclearelectrica said.

AtkinsRéalis is involved in all CANDU reactor life extension projects

With the exclusive license to CANDU’s intellectual property portfolio, AtkinsRéalis is the only company involved in all CANDU reactor life extension projects to date worldwide, including Asia, North and South America.

AtkinsRéalis’ current work on CANDU reactor life extension projects in Ontario includes 10 reactors at Darlington and Bruce Power.

“CANDU reactors are one of the few large reactor technologies available for construction. This is a special technology with unique advantages. It uses natural uranium as fuel, co-produces cancer-fighting medical isotopes, can be refueled online and boasts impeccable safety standards. and operational efficiency,” said Joe St. Julian, President Nuclear, AtkinsRéalis.

CANDU is a registered trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, used under exclusive license by Candu Energy Inc., a subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. which operates under the name AtkinsRéalis.

The intention to build two new reactors remains

Two CANDU units in Cernavod provide 20% of Romania’s electricity. They were commissioned in 1996 and 2007, respectively. The Romanian government and SNN also announced their intention to build two more CANDU reactors at Cernavoda. The station’s four operating CANDU reactors will bring the share of nuclear energy in Romania’s electricity production to 33%.

Unit 2 of the CANDU reactor at Chernavod holds the world record for the highest power factor (consisting of reliability and uptime) of any nuclear reactor in the world. Ontario’s CANDU technology holds the record for the longest continuous operation of any nuclear reactor in the world.

CNE Cernavodă Power Unit 1 was put into commercial operation in 1996, has an installed capacity of 700 MW and in 27 years of operation has supplied 138,388,129 MWh to the national power system at a capacity factor of more than 90%, according to Nuclearelectrica.

After reconstruction in 2029, CNE Cernavodă Unit 1 will continue to generate approximately 5 TW/year and avoid 5 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, as nuclear power has the lowest carbon footprint of any source over its entire life cycle.