Romania and South Korea are holding talks for a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on potential cooperation in the area of nuclear power, the Romanian government told SeeNews on Tuesday.
The agreement will be finalised within the joint committee for industrial cooperation between Romania and the Republic of Korea. It will then be signed by Romania’s Ministry of Energy and South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy.
The text of the MoU is currently being agreed upon through diplomatic channels, the government told SeeNews in an emailed statement.
The objective of the MoU is to create a framework for the exchange of best practices in the nuclear field and the coordination of energy policies between the two states, the government said in a press release last week.
The MoU will also entail the establishment of annual sessions of nuclear energy industry dialogue (NEID) between the two states regarding the possibility of setting up a joint technical working group that would monitor and safely implement new technologies in this field.
Last year, Nuclearelectrica, the operator of Romania’s Cernavoda sole nuclear power plant (NPP), signed a 260 billion won (179 million euro) contract with Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Corporation (KHNP) for the construction of a tritium removal facility (TRF). The Cernavoda NPP will hence be the site of the world’s third and Europe’s first TRF.
In December, Nuclearelectrica borrowed 145 million euro from the European Investment Bank to finance the construction of this facility.
Last month, Nuclearelectrica also signed a MoU with Italian power engineering company Ansaldo Energia, which will overhaul a unit and help develop two more at the Cernavoda NPP. The project will receive up to 2 billion euro in financing from Italian state investment agency SACE.