US export bank signs USD 57.3 million loan to back Romania’s nuclear plant expansion

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has signed a USD 57.3 million loan for EnergoNuclear, a project firm owned by Romania’s state-controlled company Nuclearelectrica, to finance engineering and project management services for the construction of units 3 and 4 of the Cernavodă nuclear power plant. The expansion project would double the capacity of Romania’s only nuclear power plant.

The engineering and project management services covered by the loan will be provided by companies within the US-based engineering and consultancy group Sargent & Lundy, according to a document seen by Profit.ro. The group is currently providing services to more than 90 operating nuclear units across North America, its website shows.

The services will be provided by US-based Sargent & Lundy

The board of directors of EXIM, the official export credit agency of the United States, approved the loan in September 2023, while the preliminary financing commitment was announced at the UN climate summit COP27 in November 2022.

The planned two new units at Cernavodă, of 700 MW each, are projected to generate about 10 TWh of electricity a year.

The two new reactors at Cernavodă would produce 10 TWh of electricity annually

The Cernavodă nuclear power plant currently has two 700 MW reactors, one of which is being refurbished. The overhaul of Unit 1, launched in September 2025, is expected to extend its operating life by 30 years.

The construction of units 3 and 4 is valued at about EUR 7 billion, with most of the financing expected to be provided by the United States, Canada, and Italy.

Cernavodă’s units 1 and 2 are Canadian-designed CANDU reactors, and the same technology is planned for the new units.

Romania also plans to build a 462 MW nuclear power plant with small modular reactors (SMR), but Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan does not expect the project to be completed any time soon, given its high estimated cost and complexity. Bolojan believes the Cernavodă project is more feasible.