Italy has offered to buy electricity from Romania to help it complete construction of a second nuclear reactor, Reuters reports. The offer was announced during a visit to Canada by the Romanian prime minister.
The Canadian-designed reactor is already 40 per cent complete but the Romanian government has been struggling to find the $750 million required to complete the project.
Both Canada and Italy have an interest in seeing the power plant completed. The Italian company Ansaldo is a partner in the project with Atomic Energy of Canada.
The plant is a legacy of the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu who embarked on plans to build five reactors at Cernavoda on the Danube river. Around $650 million has already been spent on the second of these reactors.
Romania has considered exporting power to Bulgaria and Ukraine, to raise funds for the scheme. It has also requested a review of Canada’s terms for financing completion of the plant.
