NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, IV met with Luca Niculescu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania on 5 November. They noted the excellent co-operation since Romania joined the Agency and anticipated greater collaboration as the Romanian nuclear energy programme advances.
During his meeting with Minister of Energy Sebastian Burduja on 7 November, Director-General Magwood discussed the country’s plans to refurbish units at the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant and deploy small modular reactors (SMRs) as part of the Romanian energy mix.
Among the areas of advancements for Romania in recent years has been ensuring that the country has the human resources necessary to support its growing ambitions. In that respect, Romania joined the NEA Nuclear Education, Skills and Technology (NEST) Framework in May 2023. Launched in 2019, the NEST Framework helps to address significant gaps in nuclear skills capacity building, knowledge transfer and technical innovation.
Photo on the left: Meeting with Minister of Education, Ligia Deca. Photo on the right: Meeting with Sorin Mihai Câmpeanu, President of the Council of Rectors of the Romanian Universities and President of the Francophone University Agency.
Rector Mihnea Costoiu, NEA Director-General William D. Magwood, Prorector Dumitru Chirlesan of Politechnica Bucuresti.
The NEA explored various aspects of education in the Director-General Magwood’s meeting with Minister of Education, Ligia Deca. They followed up on the workshop held last year in Pitești. They also discussed the Agency’s key education initiatives, including the NEA Global Forum on Nuclear Education, Science, Technology and Policy and Plan 2035. These subjects were also the main discussion points during the Director-General’s meetings with Sorin Mihai Câmpeanu, President of the Council of Rectors of the Romanian Universities and President of the Francophone University Agency, Rector Mihnea Costoiu and Prorector Dumitru Chirlesan of Politechnica Bucuresti.
Conference "Sustainable Nuclear Energy: From Vision to Practice".
The NEA participated in the conference Sustainable Nuclear Energy: From Vision to Practice, organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Pece and held in collaboration with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest on 5-6 November. Director-General Magwood delivered the keynote on "A Global Nuclear Vision", and met briefly with the Governor of the National Bank, Mugur Isărescu. The conference convened leaders from nuclear energy, policy, and sustainability sectors to discuss nuclear energy’s role in a sustainable future.
DG Magwood and Nuclear and Radioactive Waste Agency (ANDR) President Mihăiță Găină, 7 November 2024.
During discussions with Nuclear and Radioactive Waste Agency (ANDR) President Mihăiță Găină on 7 November, Director-General Magwood discussed the Agency’s plans to support Romanian nuclear development plans, including refurbishing Unit 2 at Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant and adding two more units, as well as deploying SMRs.
NEA's Daniela Lulache at the conference "Sustainable Nuclear Energy: From Vision to Practice".
The NEA’s Head of Office of Policy and Co-ordination, Daniela Lulache, participated in a session on "National, Regional, and Multinational Approaches" at the same conference. With representatives from the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials, this session focused on how certain nuclear requirements must be managed at the national level, while others could benefit from regional or multinational collaboration.
Director-General Magwood at the University Politehnica of Bucharest.
During the Director-General Magwood’s visit to the University Politehnica of Bucharest (UPB), he engaged with students and faculty on the future of nuclear energy. He addressed UPB students on the different career options available in the modern nuclear energy sector. He also met high school students in Bogati, where he encouraged them to become the scientists and engineers that the world needs. “If you take full advantage of your talents, your skills and your dreams you can make the world a better place, you can bring change to Romania, to the world, to humanity,” he told them.
Director-General Magwood with Bogati high school teachers.
Director-General Magwood with Cantemir Ciurea-Ercau, CNCAN President and colleagues.
Director-General Magwood also visited the Romanian National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN) on 6 November. He met with Cantemir Ciurea-Ercau, President of CNCAN, and other representatives to discuss the development projects of the nuclear field in Romania, as well as the challenges in ensuring the human resources necessary to carry out the activities of CNCAN.
The visit concluded with a tour of the recently inaugurated Emergency Preparedness and Information Center, which opened in April 2024.
Romania joined the NEA in 2017. Romania currently operates two nuclear power units, which supply about 19% of the country’s total energy. Romania aims to double the country’s nuclear power supply in a decade. To that end, the government has adopted the Integrated National Plan for Energy and Climate Change, which signalled the country's intention to complete two new CANDU reactors at Cernavoda by 2031 and the refurbishment of an existing unit by 2037.
