The idea that the energy minister talked about this year was to have all the nuclear operations integrated into a single entity. Nuclearelectrica should have absorbed Compania Nationala a Uraniului (National Uranium Company – CNU), the supplier of the Cernavoda plant reactors to which it pays about EUR20 million a year. This is not the only scenario taken into account.
“We are now in the discussion phase and a financial and legal study is required to establish the best option: the merger or the separation of the nuclear fuel production and energy generation,” said Ioan Moraru, general manager of CNU.
Under the circumstances, Nuclearelectrica would keep the Cernavoda nuclear plant and turn the nuclear fuel plant near Pitesti over to CNU, which controls the first links in the nuclear industry chain, the uranium mine in Crucea, Suceava County and the ore processing facility in Feldioara, Brasov County.
Nuclearelectrica would thus save about EUR10 million in expenses a year, according to ZF’s calculations based on company reports, without taking into account the savings on investments in the plant, which will no longer be its responsibility.
The company will begin selection for the consultant to devise the study about the reorganization of the entire nuclear industry from the uranium mine to the nuclear power plant by the end of the year. The heavy water plant now part of RAAN Drobeta-Turnu Severin will most likely continue as a separate entity in all scenarios, since the heavy water stocks are enough to last the Cernavoda plant several decades.
How the operations in the nuclear industry are divided is important because it will influence the financing structure of a 400 million lei (almost EUR100 million) investment in a new uranium mine in Grinties, Neamt County (NE Romania). A new uranium mine is necessary because the deposit in Crucea is almost depleted, and Romania plans to keep its nuclear power plant going and even expand it by two more reactors.
“I cannot provide too many details because this is classified information, but finding funding to ensure domestically-sourced fuel for reactors 1 and 2 is being considered. We will definitely seek to provide for the nuclear fuel needs of all the four reactors from domestic resources, as the technology used will have the same needs,” the CNU general manager said.
With RON139 million revenue and RON7 million net profit in 2013, CNU cannot pay for such an investment alone, which will take nine years to complete, according to a government decision draft written last year but not passed yet. The cost in the first year alone should be RON45 million.
“We are focusing solely on finding our own resources to be able to start mining the deposit. We’ve eliminated any useless investment.”
CNU can afford to pay for the opening of the mine but it also wants to build two new uranium ore processing and refining installations in Feldioara to replace those in operation for three decades, he added. If Nuclearelectrica does not absorb CNU, the investment could be financed via a partnership of the two or by the state budget on condition that the government find a loophole in the law to allow it to.
“It’s not a big investment for the Romanian government, because it’s clearly certain that Romania will get 20% of its energy from nuclear power facilities. No investment in this sector is too big,” Moraru said.
The Economy Ministry came up with a bill on the opening of the mine in Grinties last fall, specifying the funding should come from CNU’s resources and from the state budget. The bill was not passed but the CNU general manager said it would take three years from the passing of the bill to the opening of the mine.
It takes this much time to open the mine because of the many regulations it has to comply with, Moraru explained.
Nuclearelectrica was trading at about RON8.38 on Tuesday, down 2% on the previous session. Its market capitalization is RON2.4 billion.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)