SNC-Lavalin Awarded Inspection Contracts for Cernavoda Unit 1
Canada’s SNC-Lavalin announced that it has been awarded two inspection contracts by Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica (SNN) during a planned outage of a unit at Nuclearelectrica’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant. The contracts, awarded to SNC Lavalin’s wholly-owned subsidiary Candu Energy Inc, cover fuel channel and feeder assembly inspections on the Cernavoda Unit 1 nuclear reactor during the 2020 outage.
These contract wins are aligned with the Company’s new strategy moving forward towards engineering services and greater growth.
“SNC-Lavalin is grateful for the opportunity to continue supporting SNN with the inspection of fuel channels in Cernavoda Unit 1 through our experienced team of trusted field services experts,” said Sandy Taylor, President, Nuclear, SNC-Lavalin.
“Our successful track record in delivering such services is the bedrock of our ongoing trusted relationship with SNN,” he added.
“We are looking forward to working with SNC-Lavalin for the periodic inspection of the fuel channel and feeder assembly of Cernavoda NPP Unit 1 during the 2020 outage,” said Cosmin Ghita, CEO, SNN.
“We have a very strong cooperation experience with great results and we are keen on having excellent engineering services to optimize our performance,” mentioned Cosmin Ghita.
Fuel channel inspections are part of periodic inspection activities of the Cernavoda Unit 1 reactor. Feeder assembly inspections involve SNC-Lavalin engineers and technicians performing ultrasonic inspection activities on major components.
Cernavoda Unit 1 produces over 700 MW of electricity, about 10 per cent of Romania’s electricity demands.
It was commissioned and began commercial full power operation in December 1996.
Since a nuclear plant does not emit greenhouse gases that contribute to acid rain and global warming, Unit 1 has avoided the release of more than four million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide (CO2) that would have been produced by a fossil fuel plant.
The CANDU power reactor offers a combination of proven and superior state-of-the-art technology. It was designed specifically for electricity production, unlike other major reactor types that evolved from other uses. This focused development is one of the reasons that CANDU has such high fuel efficiency.
CANDU 6 is Candu Energy’s 700 MWe class nuclear power reactor. The first CANDU 6 plants went into service in the early 1980s as leading-edge technology, and the design has continuously evolved since to maintain superior technology and performance.
It was licensed in the early 1980s in Canada, Argentina and the Republic of Korea. In 1996, Cernavoda Unit 1 was licensed in Romania, and Wolsong Unit 2 was licensed in Korea. Wolsong Units 3 and 4 were licensed in Korea in 1997 and 1999 respectively. Qinshan Units 1 and 2 were licensed in China in 2002 and 2003 respectively. In 2007, Cernavoda Unit 2 was licensed in Romania. These units came into service ahead of schedule and on budget. There are 11 operable CANDU 6 units.
