Early Warning System

Countries

Romania

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Financial Institutions

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Approved

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Jan 12, 2022

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

Nuclearelectrica S.A.

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Energy

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 158.30 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 150
Converted using 2022-05-05 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 200.52 million

Bank Documents

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS May 5, 2022

Disclosed by Bank Oct 8, 2021

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the bank website, the project consists of a senior unsecured corporate loan of up to EUR 150 million to S.N. Nuclearelectrica S.A. to finance the construction of a tritium removal facility (the Project).

Nuclearelectrica operates two CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) units at its Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (Cernavoda NPP): Unit 1 commissioned in 1996 and Unit 2 commissioned in 2007. CANDU type reactors, of which these are the only examples operating in Europe, use heavy water (deuterium oxide) as a moderator and coolant. Over time the radioactive hydrogen isotope tritium accumulates in the heavy water.

By now Cernavoda NPP has accumulated high volumes of such radioactive, tritiated water in its reactors. Removal of the tritium and placing it in safe, long-term storage, is an essential part of the decommissioning process. The alternative to this treatment is to store large volumes of highly radioactive water in tanks on-site for many decades. This would be very costly and entail potential environmental risks.

The proposed construction of a tritium removal facility (TRF) at Cernavoda NPP will extract tritium from the tritiated heavy water. The process will result in stable, non-radioactive heavy water, and a very small volume of concentrated tritium. The concentrated tritium can then more easily be stored to ensure its containment according to the applicable nuclear safety regulations. In addition, the processed heavy water can be reused as moderator and coolant, saving energy for the production of new heavy water.

The Project will focus on environmental improvement. This entails the following: i) the management of radioactive waste by reducing the amount of radioactive material and avoiding the hazards of storing it in large containers on site; ii) improvement of operational safety by reducing exposure to radiation for the staff working in the plant; and iii) ensuring compliance with the applicable regulations.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	Nuclearelectrica S.A.	Client	-

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION

Amuza Melania Simona
melania.amuza@nuclearelectrica.ro
+ 40 21 203 82 77
https://www.nuclearelectrica.ro/
Bucuresti 010494 Sector 1 Str. Polona nr.65 CP 22-102

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html