The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 19th that a consortium of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation, Canada's Candu Energy, and Italy's Ansaldo Nucleare has won the contract for the refurbishment project of Cernavodă Unit 1 nuclear power plant in Romania.
According to the ministry, the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation consortium and Romania's Nuclear Power Corporation (SNN) signed a contract for the 'Cernavodă Unit 1 refurbishment project' at 8 a.m. (local time) in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Cernavodă Unit 1 is a Candu-type heavy water reactor, similar to the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant, and began commercial operation in 1996. Its operating license is set to expire in 2027. Romania's Nuclear Power Corporation is pursuing a refurbishment project, including the replacement of outdated equipment, with the goal of continuous operation until 2030.
The total project cost is about 2 trillion 800 billion won. Of this, the scope of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corp.'s work is about 1 trillion 200 billion won.
Candu Energy is responsible for the reactor system, while Ansaldo Nucleare handles the design and procurement of turbine systems and materials. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corp. will take charge of the construction, including the replacement of major and auxiliary equipment, as well as the infrastructure construction for the radioactive waste storage facility. Companies like KEPCO KPS, Doosan Enerbility, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and Samsung C&T are expected to participate as partners in construction.
A ministry official noted, "With this contract, our nuclear power companies will participate in an overseas nuclear power continuous operation project for the first time," adding, "Through this, it is expected that the export methods for nuclear power will diversify into heavy water reactor equipment and construction exports, as well as continuous operation projects."