Chinese nuclear companies have sealed deals with Candu Energy Inc. to cooperate in the construction of new reactors at Cernavoda plant in Romania and Atachu plant in Argentina.

Candu Energy, the Canadian subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. that specializes in providing nuclear reactor products and services worldwide, signed a "binding and exclusive" agreement to cooperate with China Nuclear Power Engineering Co (CNPEC) in building two more reactors in Romania's Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant.

Like Us on Facebook

The agreement was signed in Vancouver on Thursday.

The Cernavoda plant already has two operating pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) supplied by Atomic Energy of Canadad Ltd., the predecessor of Candu Energy.

The first PHWR unit was built in 1996 while the second was subsequently completed in 2007.

The US$6-billion agreement could generate an additional of 40 percent of the country's energy needs, according to the chief nuclear officer of SNC-Lavalin, Preston Swafford.

The reactors will be developed in China.

However, the early stages of design, such as the conditioning and manufacturing of steam generators and other plant components, will start in Canada, Swafford said.

The project, he said, has the capacity to produce billions of dollars for Canadian and Chinese economy.

Successively, the Romanian agreement trails another agreement for the construction of a third PHWR at Atucha Nuclear Power Plant in Argentina.

The Argentine consensus was signed as a part of the conference held in Buenos Aires last week with President Xi Jinping of China and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina.

China National Nuclear Co agreed to assist Nucleoelectrica Argentina, which holds Candu technology rights, in designing and building the new reactor through long-term financing.

The two companies will work together for the engineering, operation and maintenance of reactor pressure tubes as well as the manufacturing, licensing and storage of nuclear fuel.

TagsChina National Power Engineering Co, Nucleoelectrica Argentina, China National Nuclear Co, Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant