“Renouncing the project would demobilize to the point of extinction the horizontal nuclear industry in Romania and many of the expenses made so far, of around EUR1 billion, would not be capitalized,” the non-government association said in its report.
Romania, through state-run power producer Nuclearelectrica, owns around 85% in EnergoNuclear, a joint venture set up to build the two new reactors in Cernavoda. ArcelorMittal and Enel own 9.15% and 6.2% in the joint venture, respectively.
The state wants to attract new investors to finance the project, which has been delayed on more than one occasion after four of the initial six international partners withdrew their funds, citing economic and market uncertainties.
The Cernavoda project is estimated to cost EUR6.4 billion. The project is expected to create around 16,000 jobs that would bring additional revenue to the state budget of EUR12.5 million a year, according to Romatom estimates.
Romatom said 71 Romanian companies are interested in the Cernavoda project.
Cernavoda currently operates two reactors of 700 megawatts power each and covers around 18% of Romania’s electricity production. The two new reactors are expected to double the plant’s capacity.