EnergyMin Ivan, at Cernavoda nuclear power plant: Romania is in extremely challenging situation when it comes to energy

Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan said on Wednesday, at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, that Romania is "in an extremely challenging situation" when it comes to energy, the safest source of band energy being the nuclear one.

Present at the festivity held on the occasion of the start of the renovation works of Unit 1 of the Nuclear Power Plant, the minister emphasized that Romania has some of the best-trained people in nuclear energy production technology, with 30 years of experience.

"We are at a point where Romania is the only country in the former Soviet bloc where we have CANDU technology, a technology that has the United States and Canada as its main source. (...) Romania, today, is in an extremely challenging situation when we talk about energy, one of the safest energy sources in the band is represented by nuclear energy. We are one of the countries favored by the fact that we have some of the best-trained people in this technology, who have over 30 years of experience, many of them have worked in the preparation of reactors one and two at Cernavoda since their student days and it gives me great pleasure to know that my current colleagues, I allow myself to call them that, represent perhaps the most important resource that Romania has in terms of nuclear energy", stated Bogdan Ivan.

According to him, Romania is forced to look for alternatives for on-site production of electricity at very good prices.

"Today, as a country, we are faced with a need for band electricity, after in the last ten years, following some decisions, Romania chose to remove approximately 56% of its coal and gas production from production, which has led to us importing approximately 22% of the energy we consume today, which leads us to a situation in which we are forced to look for alternatives for band production of electricity at very good prices. And nuclear power is one such example," said Ivan.

He argued that the investment being made in the re-engineering of Unit 1 of the Nuclear Power Plant represents the future of Romania's energy security.

"The 3-billion-euro investment that we are starting today in the re-engineering of reactor one will mean another 30 years, after this investment is made, of on-grid electricity, environmentally friendly energy (...). An investment that represents the future of Romania's energy security, which comes in preparation for investments in reactors three and four, which will exceed 11 billion euros, for which certain phases have already begun. And I believe that beyond the technical problem of the nuclear reactors at Cernavoda, Romania is facing a huge opportunity, namely, that in approximately seven years, from being a net importer of energy to becoming an exporter. Something that will increase the competitiveness of Romanian companies, something that will lead to a decrease in the pressure on the budget of every Romanian, when they pay the energy bill and which will lead to Romania having a stronger economy", also said the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan.