The nuclear sector must be financed, and nuclear projects generally require a compensation of the typical risk for such projects, either through state guarantees or through loans at competitive interest rates from import-export banks, the Minister of Energy said on Monday , Sebastian Burduja, at the end of a meeting with the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA), Mariano Grossi.

“We also discussed the challenges of the sector. On the one hand, the fact that Romania welcomes the change in the global conversation about nuclear energy. If a few years ago the world was still skeptical about nuclear energy, today we see a revival of the nuclear energy sector, in the context in which the conclusion is extremely clear: without nuclear energy, without the tripling of nuclear energy, as there was a commitment at COP 28 in Dubai, we cannot talk about zero emissions in the horizon 2050. That is one dimension. And the 2nd dimension very important and of interest for Romania is that of financing. The nuclear sector must be financed, nuclear projects are projects that, in general, require a compensation of the typical risk for nuclear projects, either through state guarantees or through loans at competitive interest from import-export banks and we want, in the future, also from the development banks, the international financial institutions that still have some reluctance to finance nuclear projects,” said Burduja, quoted by Agerpres.

He emphasized that the IEA has a role both in the non-proliferation area and in the area of technical assistance and that the discussions also covered the nuclear reactors at Cernavodă, but also the project of small modular reactors.

“Mr. General Director Grossi leads the International Atomic Energy Agency. As you know, it is an institution with a long tradition at the global level. It has its origins in a famous speech from 1953, it was called “Atom for Peace” and in 1957 the International Agency was born for Atomic Energy. It has a role both in the non-proliferation zone and in the area of technical assistance for countries that either do not have a nuclear program, or have a nuclear program and want to develop it, as is the case of Romania. addressed several topics, of course the large-sized reactors, the refurbishment of Unit 1, where the agency has already given us support, technical assistance, the project of Units 3 and 4 from Cernavodă and Mr. General Director Grossi will be on a visit tomorrow work at Cernavodă and, of course, the project of small modular reactors,” the Minister of Energy also stated.