In an October 2026 shareholder memorandum, Nuclearelectrica said more than 80% of the conditions attached to the Doicești small modular reactor (SMR) project’s February investment decision remained unmet. The company identified three priority issues and proposed a strategy review that would keep NuScale among the possible options. Nuclearelectrica’s memorandum
The three priority conditions
Shareholders approved the project’s Final Investment Decision (FID) on February 12, 2026, subject to conditions Nuclearelectrica described as necessary for feasibility. The company’s October memorandum identifies three priorities:
- Risk sharing: a binding framework agreement with NuScale covering how the partners would share risk and provide strategic benefits.
- Module procurement: binding terms for buying the six planned modules and allocating costs if the first module did not operate as designed.
- Site assessment: resolving natural-gas concerns near the site, including the classification and abandonment of a well associated with adjacent site Soceram.
Nuclearelectrica said the first two issues remained unresolved and depended partly on NuScale’s participation in negotiations. Its account also described the site condition as unmet. The company said an independent assessment was under way, with preliminary indicative results expected from March 2027 and the final study in October 2027.
Two proposed ways to buy the six modules
The memorandum describes two procurement arrangements. Neither had a binding agreement, according to Nuclearelectrica.
| Arrangement | Who would procure the modules? | Terms for the other five modules |
| First module purchased separately | RoPower Nuclear would buy the first; NuScale would be responsible for the remaining five. | RoPower would pay for the five only after the first module was fully operational. |
| All six purchased together | RoPower Nuclear would buy all six. | NuScale would reimburse the cost of five if the first module did not operate as designed. |
The alternatives allocate the purchase and performance risk differently. In the first, payment for the remaining five depends on the first module reaching full operation. In the second, RoPower would purchase all six, with reimbursement of five tied to the first module’s performance.
What Nuclearelectrica proposed next
Nuclearelectrica proposed notifying NuScale of a deadline of no more than 30 days to meet the priority conditions. The company also proposed a strategy review lasting up to six months, including a comparison of advanced U.S. SMR technologies, site characteristics and other generation options. The memorandum says the review would not itself remove the NuScale scenario.
The company also asked shareholders to approve operational measures for project company RoPower Nuclear. Those proposals included a six-month resizing period and a reduction of at least 60% in staff assigned to the project.
What the February investment decision covered
Nuclearelectrica’s February 12 release described a plan for six modules totaling 462 megawatts (MW), intended to replace 600 MW at the former Doicești thermal power plant. It identified a 15-month Pre-EPC stage as the next planned phase. Nuclearelectrica’s February announcement
