Romania and the United States signed a trade partnership agreement on Thursday on the deployment of small nuclear reactors in Romania, the Romanian Energy Ministry said.
The signing of the document in Glasgow by Jennifer M. Granholm, US Secretary of Energy, and Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu, was announced after a meeting between the two at the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A commercial partnership agreement has been reached between the US company NuScale Power, which is trying to introduce modular nuclear reactors, and the Romanian state-owned Atomic Nuclear Corporation. In this sense, Europe’s first modular nuclear reactor will be built in Romania by 2028.
According to the Romanian side, the carbon-neutral energy source will contribute to fulfilling Romania’s commitment to phase out coal-fired energy production by 2032. The statement also quoted Granholm, who said that the United States sees nuclear energy as vital in the fight against climate change.
Romania wants to cut carbon emissions by 55% by 2030, while at the same time reducing its dependence on fossil fuel imports from 20.8% to 17.8%. At present, nuclear energy contributes 33% of the energy production in Romania. Romania signed a memorandum with NuScale Power in 2019, and in January this year Bucharest received a $1.27 million grant to identify potential deployment sites for a modular nuclear reactor. The signing of Thursday’s deal was first announced on Tuesday after Romanian President Klaus Iohannis held talks with US Special Envoy for Climate Change John Glasgow in Glasgow.
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