U.S. President Joe Biden and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis are to announce later Tuesday plans to build a “first-of-a-kind” modular reactor plant in Romania which will create thousands of jobs.
The plant, to be built in partnership with U.S. NuScale Power, will bring the latest civil nuclear technology to a “critical part” of Europe, a statement from Washington said.
The Partnership will bring SMR technology to Romania and position U.S. technology to lead in the global race for SMR deployment.
The commercial agreement includes a 12-module NuScale plant. It will create more than 6,000 U.S. and Romanian jobs, including union jobs.
There were no details of the location of the plant or when it would be completed.
It has the potential to create 30,000 U.S. and Romanian jobs as the project grows. Deployment of SMR technology will be an important contributor to a decarbonized power sector and net zero future, the statement said.
SMRs are designed with modular technology using module factory fabrication, and have short construction times.
Nuclear power currently provides 20 percent of domestic energy in Romania.
The U.S. and Romanian leaders met Monday at the COP22 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
Romania is one the U.S’s staunchest allies in Central and Eastern Europe.
Romania president meets U.S. President Joe Biden at COP26 climate change conference
