U.S. Energy Secretary Endorses SMR Business Model for Romania

The technology works and the Small Modular Reactors (SMR) business model will work in Romania, Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, told AGERPRES on Wednesday.

The next phase of site-specific engineering studies for the Doicesti Small Modular Reactors project was launched on Wednesday. This carbon-free energy source will help phase out Romania's coal-fired assets and position it as a potential hub of the SMR supply chain.

According to Granholm, the costs of the project will be determined by these studies, which are expected to last 13 months. "So costs are still a question mark. But we want to be helpful. The U.S. does. We feel very strongly about this partnership and very grateful that Romania is leading in," she said, attending the fifth meeting of the Partnership for Transatlantic Cooperation in Energy and Climate in Bucharest.

Addressing the Idaho SMR project's abandonment, Granholm clarified it was due to a lack of concentrated customers, not technology issues. "So the business model didn't work for that site. And so it's a totally different situation here. The technology works. We're very confident in that. It's just a question... And here the business model will work," she said.

Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja emphasized SMR technology's broader promise, noting, "Romania will have the first SMRs in Europe, maybe the world, and will be able to develop the entire supply chain." He added that using a former coal-based plant site in Doicesti offers potential for regional replication.

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are advanced nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of up to 300 Mwe/reactor. A NuScale SMR has 77 Mwe capacity and can be used in various configurations, according to Nuclearelectrica.

Source: Stiri pe surse