Strategic factors for the Romanian sustainable energy development

This is a presentation given to the Round Table 'National Policy of Nuclear Security', held at hotel Marriott, Bucharest, on April 25, 2006. The Romanian National Council (CNR) is a founding member of the World Energy Council, founded in 1924, and having at present 100 autonomous member committees. The structure of the electric energy production in Romania in 2005 is presented as follows: - lignite, 32% (19,133 GWh); - pit coal, 8% (4,482 GWh); - hydrocarbons, 17% (10,232 GWh); - hydroelectric, 34% (20,285 GWh); - nuclear power, 9% (5,554 GWh). European Commission adopted a new Green Paper on Energy and the European Summit concluded about the necessity of a common European policy in the energy sector. Based on these political directions the road map in the field of energy in Romania has adopted as a target for 2015 an energy production of 72.9 TWh by restructuring production units and installing new capacities. Special attention is given in this talk to the Romanian nuclear power contribution. It is pointed out the essential factor of nuclear energy acceptance for a sustainable development of this technology which implies a correct information of the population in the whole Europe about the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power, having in view the challenges related to energy security and environmental protection. Every country has the right of choosing its own energy mix. In European Union, where nuclear power represents 33% of the energy production, of high priority appear to be the radioactive waste management and the final decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The experience acquired in Romania, after 9 years of commercial exploitation of Cernavoda NPP Unit 1, showed that the nuclear technology is safe and the results concerning nuclear safety, economical efficiency and environmental protection are excellent. Consequently, the Romanian Government engaged firmly to develop this technology. The commissioning of Cernavoda NPP Unit 2 is foreseen for mid 2007, while the units 3 and 4 are planned to be completed by 2015. Undergoing are negotiations with potential investors, electricity users, and financing agents to supports the energy planning