Nuclearelectrica: Demand of nuclear energy could fall because of financial crisis

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The international financial crisis, whose impact is felt in Romania, could trigger a rise in the costs with the manpower, and a fall in the demand of nuclear energy, said, on November 12, general manager of Nuclearelectrica Teodor Chirica, at a forum on “Energy in Central and Eastern Europe.”

“The international financial crisis will affect, somehow, the field of nuclear energy. So, the costs with the manpower will increase, and the demand of energy will decline,” said Chirica.
He added he believes the crisis will not have a high impact on the nuclear units under operation.
“ I don’t think there will be a significant impact of the crisis on operating units, even if interests will grow, “ Teodor Chrica said.

“It is possible that part of the major projects in the field of energy be a little bit delayed, because of the current financial crisis, but the basic demand of energy will be the driver for the kick off of projects in the field, “ said Chirica.

Nuclearelectrica will build a nuclear unit of 2.400 megawatts generating power, scheduled to be ready in 2020.

Romanians trust nuclear energy 35%. “The low percentage is due to the fact that the media did not present the area much enough. Lobbying is necessary for the population to trust nuclear energy, “ Chirica also said.
According to the National Statistics Institute, in the first nine months this year, the domestic production of nuclear energy rose by more than 3.66 billion kWh, or 82.5%.

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