Nuclear Monitor #940
Jan van Evert
A devastating report by the CCPM, the Control Body of the Romanian Prime Minister, has found significant irregularities in the Doicești SMR project, including a 20-month delay, a $3.8 billion cost increase, and inflated land acquisition costs.
The Doicești project intends to replace a 600 MW coal-fired electricity plant in Doicești with six 77 MW SMR reactor modules. It is managed by RoPower Nuclear, a fifty-fifty joint venture between state-owned Nuclearelectrica and private energy company Nova Power & Gas. To minimise risk and manage the estimated cost of $6 to 7 billion, Romania plans to build and test just one module first before committing to the remaining five.
The initial memorandum of understanding between Nuclearelectrica and the US company NuScale Power was signed in 2019 to evaluate SMR technology. Plans for deployment were announced in 2021 and the Doicești site was selected in May 2022. In September RoPower Nuclear was launched to oversee project engineering and development. In 2033 the first 77 MW pilot reactor module is planned to reach full operational capacity and all six SMR modules are supposed to follow in 2034.
The CCPM report mentions serious irregularities claiming that certain structural decisions effectively left state-owned Nuclearelectrica “outside the protection of corporate law”. The report also found the 52-hectare project site was purchased from private partner Nova Power & Gas for € 46 million, which is almost double the € 24 million market value calculated by consultancy KPMG. According to the CCPM report the Doicești site was selected without a quantitative comparative analysis. The American technical consultant hired to assess locations had ranked Doicești second. Project leaders advanced it anyway without properly documenting why the recommendation was ignored.
CCPM also criticised the selection of Nova Power & Gas as the private partner, noting it was done without a competitive public procedure or a comparative review of other capable investors. Furthermore, CCPM judged the resulting fifty-fifty joint-venture corporate architecture as economically irrational.
Nuclearelectrica has rejected all findings of illegality. In a statement to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, management stated that all decisions complied with the law.
The CCPM has demanded several corrective actions for the Doicești project. These include setting strict statutory deadlines and strengthening ministerial oversight over capital deployment. It also required a reassessment of land valuation and a restructuring of the joint venture to protect state assets.
Nuclearelectrica explicitly reiterated that the project cannot automatically advance to construction. Feasibility, government backing, risk allocation, and a definitive $6 -7 billion financing structure must still be resolved. If these criteria are not satisfied, the project will be deemed unfeasible.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan has warned that Romania risks ending up with nothing but expensive land and technical studies instead of an operational nuclear power plant.
Source: https://www.neimagazine.com/news/doicesti-smr-debate-intensifies
