The planned opening of a new uranium mine at Tulghes-Grinties (Harghita-Neamt counties) would require an investment of around 400 million lei over nine years.
The only place where uranium is extracted in Romania at the moment is the Crucea mine (north-eastern Romania), which has been exploited for 30 years, but whose reserves have almost run out.
In addition to the opening of the new mine, representatives of state-owned National Uranium Company (CNU) say an additional investment of around RON550 million is needed in a processing plant and in a refining plant, which should replace the old equipment in Feldioara (Brasov county).
“The only mine where uranium is extracted at the moment in Romania is Crucea. There were two other mines very rich in uranium in Oravita (Caras-Severin county) and Stei (Bihor), but they ran out of uranium and are now being closed down,” explains Ioan Moraru, general manager of the National Uranium Company.
But Crucea uranium reserves are in turn running low – the exploitation license can be extended until 2016-2017. Since it takes around 3 years to complete works for the Tulghes-Grinties mine, works should start at the latest in mid next year.
The uranium extracted from Crucea supplies the two reactors of Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear plant and unless investments start in the new mine, the nuclear power plant will have to resort to imports.
“Crucea is running low after 30 years of activity. The entire uranium extracted here has been used internally and for peaceful purposes. We are looking to extend the exploitation license. The extension could be for 2016-2017. But in parallel we have to open a new mine, Grinties,” Moraru says.
The manager of CNU does not say what the production of the Crucea mine is, as this is classified information. The administration report put together by the new management of Nuclearelectrica reveals that the Cernavoda nuclear power plant requires around 209 tons of uranium per year. Nuclearelectrica is the owner of Cernavoda.
“We know what is there, we know the amounts”
Prospective production of the new mine is not public information, nor is the duration of the exploitation.
“I think within three years we could extract the first tons of uranium ore. The value of the project for this new mine amounts to around RON400 million, VAT included. The investment would be spread across nine years,” Moraru explains.
According to him, the project has all the permits and is currently with the Finance Ministry.
“The project is in the process of being approved, at the ministries that are due to give the permits.”
Moraru explains that the company he runs does not have enough money to pay for the full investment, so part of the money will have to be allocated from the state budget.
What are the options?
One alternative, if the state does not find the money for a new mine, would be to draw Nuclearelectrica into the project, because the uranium extracted from the mine will go to the two Cernavoda reactors at lower prices than international ones. Nuclearelectrica’s administration report also shows that the price of one kilo of uranium rose from EUR84 in 2008 to EUR125 last year.
Another possibility would be to attract foreign partners.
“But we would like the state to keep its authority. This is a rare metal and it is normal for a state to protect its reserves. We have considered attracting a private investor and Nuclearelectrica was considered for taking part in this new mine. “
“We can cover 10% of this investment, for the remaining 90% we need to find financing. CNU produces exclusively for Cernavoda and our intention is to produce as cheap as possible. CNU does not export uranium, the entire production is used by the Cernavoda plant.
Apart from the project of the new mine, Moraru says there are two more things that need to be done at CNU, build a new processing facility and a new refining plant at Feldioara.
“Feldioara (Brasov county) is our processing facility for the uranium extracted from Crucea. From Feldioara, the uranium gets to Pitesti, to the nuclear fuel plant, and then on to Cernavoda,” says Moraru, explaining the route of uranium from the mine to energy production.
The problem is that Feldioara equipment is old, so old that modernization is out of the question and new refining and processing facilities are required.
“Apart from the actual mine we need a new plant, also on the Feldioara platform. The current facility cannot be modernized, that is why we need to build a new processing facility. A new refining facility is also needed. The value of this complementary project stands at RON550 million, VAT included. But we decided not to pursue all three projects at once in order to deal with financing better.”
(English version by Daniela Stoican)