Cernavodă Unit 1 Refurbishment Project

Through its European subsidiary, Canadian Nuclear Partners SA (CNPSA), Laurentis is delivering Project Management Organization (PMO) services to support the preparation and execution of Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica’s (SNN) Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 refurbishment project in Romania.

Under a Framework Agreement signed with SNN, the company is providing integrated support across all phases of the refurbishment program, including:

• Project management services
• Technical and engineering support
• Consulting services
• Specialized training for CANDU refurbishment
• Outage management, and
• Coordination and oversight of commissioning through to its return to commercial operation

As a subsidiary of Laurentis, CNPSA is headquartered in Bucharest and provides centralized corporate services to support operations at the Cernavodă site. These services include, but are not limited to, human resource management, workforce planning and mobilization, onboarding, and coordination of legal and financial functions, delivered in close alignment with Laurentis in Canada.

Securing Romania’s long-term energy security

SNN is a state-owned power utility, reporting to Romania’s Ministry of Energy. It operates the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant, a two-unit CANDU 6 facility that generates approximately 20 per cent of Romania’s electricity. Unit 1 entered service in 1996, followed by Unit 2 in 2007.

During a refurbishment outage, systems, equipment, and components that are not being replaced require deliberate planning and control to ensure they continue to meet nuclear safety, equipment integrity, and regulatory requirements throughout extended outage conditions.

Drawing on proven practices from CANDU refurbishment programs in Canada, Laurentis and CNPSA have established a tailored layup program that addresses the conservation and preservation of plant systems and components, environmental control, material protection, and condition monitoring, while maintaining safety functions and configuration control.

The program is designed to support equipment reliability, prevent degradation during the outage period, and enable a safe, orderly, and predictable return to service of the unit following refurbishment activities.

The refurbishment program is being delivered in three phases:

• Phase 1 (Completed in 2024): Feasibility studies, system analysis, and design engineering.
• Phase 2 (2024-2027): Implementation, including engineering, regulatory, and execution documentation, to manage the refurbishment activities and the delivery of long-lead reactor components.
• Phase 3 (Beginning September 2027): Execution phase following reactor shutdown (“breaker open”) including full oversight of schedule, field execution, health, safety, and radiation protection programs.

Applying proven Canadian expertise and standards to deliver results

Drawing on more than five decades of nuclear experience, Laurentis and CNPSA are delivering a comprehensive training and mentoring program for SNN personnel involved in the refurbishment project.

Training is conducted at the Darlington Energy Complex, leveraging the proven methodologies developed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) for large-scale CANDU refurbishment programs including OPG’s Darlington Refurbishment project which was complete as of February 2026, approximately four months ahead of schedule and $150 million CAD under budget.

This program establishes clear standards and best practices to support safe, high-quality, on-time, and on-budget project delivery. It also equips project staff with the tools and knowledge required to proactively identify, analyze, and resolve challenges throughout execution of the project.