Romania’s nuclear group Nuclearelectrica (BSE: SNN) has signed two agreements with subsidiaries of the French group EDF aimed at advancing the refurbishing works of Unit 1 at the Cernavoda nuclear plant and the development of the medical radioisotopes project. The contracts were signed with EDF’s subsidiaries Arabelle Solutions and Framatome.
Arabelle Solutions will provide equipment and services for the retrofit of the turbo-generator of Unit 1 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, and, consequently, the extension of its lifespan by another 30 years, starting in 2029.
“The retrofit of Unit 1 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant is in the second phase of development, focused mainly on engineering, procurement, authorisations, financing, planning, and infrastructure construction. Nuclearelectrica has already started civil construction for the retrofit of Unit 1,” Nuclearelectrica said.
“Unit 1, as established during the third and final implementation phase, will be disconnected from the grid in 2027 and put back into operation in 2029. It will continue to safely deliver, 24/7, 5 million MWh/year and avoid 5 million tons of CO2/year, while developing the supply chain and providing hundreds of jobs.”
The agreement with Framatome establishes the framework in which Framatome and SNN will collaborate to implement the production of Lutetium 177 medical radioisotopes at CNE Cernavoda, the operation of the equipment and infrastructure resulting from the implementation of this project, and, in the future, the development of other projects related to the production of medical radioisotopes.
“Initiated in 2024, as part of Nuclearelectrica’s long-term strategy to capitalise on the additional advantages of nuclear energy production and to provide the medical industry with much-needed medical radioisotopes, the IRIS (Innovative Romanian Isotope System) project has now entered into effective implementation, with the objective of Nuclearelectrica and Framatome being the launch of the commercial irradiation service in 2028,” Nuclearelectrica also stated.
“Over 10,000 medical units worldwide, totalling approximately 49 million radioisotope procedures/year and over 1,500 medical units in the EU, with 10 million procedures/year, provide a clear dimension of the need and role of radioisotopes; therefore, the contribution that Nuclearelectrica can make is all the more important, Lutetium 177 being an essential isotope in cancer treatment.”
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Nuclearelectrica.ro)
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