A Romanian government audit has raised significant concerns over the structure of the country’s planned small modular reactor project, questioning the land transaction, equal ownership arrangement and allocation of financial risk between state-controlled Nuclearelectrica and private partner Nova Power & Gas.
The project is intended to deploy small modular reactor technology at the former coal-power site in Doicești. It is being developed through an equally owned joint venture, with Nuclearelectrica and Nova Power & Gas each holding 50 per cent.
Inspectors concluded that the economic exposure carried by the two shareholders may not be proportionate to their ownership. Nuclearelectrica has provided most of the funding committed to the development process, while Nova Power & Gas contributed initial equity of approximately €4 million and land associated with the project.
The audit’s central concern is that the land itself was reportedly acquired using funds provided by Nuclearelectrica before being transferred into the project structure through the private partner. This has led inspectors to question whether Nova Power & Gas made an economically equivalent contribution sufficient to justify its 50 per cent stake.
The report also found that the selected site was not the preferred location identified during earlier consultancy work. The eventual acquisition price was reportedly materially higher than the valuation used in the consultant’s assessment, raising questions about the decision-making process and the commercial basis for the transaction.
Inspectors argued that the shareholder agreement distributes rights, responsibilities and project risks in a manner that favours the private partner. Their findings suggest that Nuclearelectrica may bear the greater share of development and financial exposure without receiving corresponding control or economic protection.
The review comes at a sensitive stage. The conditions required to reach a final investment decision had not been completed by the end of June, while questions remain over the project’s capital cost, financing structure, electricity-market competitiveness and allocation of construction risk.
Romania’s energy ministry had previously resisted management proposals to reopen the project’s technical and financial assessment. Government representatives argued that insufficient evidence had been presented to justify a new evaluation. The audit now provides a broader governance basis for reconsidering that position.
Small modular reactors are promoted as a potential source of dispatchable low-carbon electricity, but first-of-a-kind projects carry substantial cost and execution risk. The Doicești development must resolve not only technology and licensing questions but also who finances early works, who absorbs overruns and how the value of land and development rights is calculated.
The audit does not itself terminate the project. It does, however, increase the probability of revised shareholder arrangements, additional valuation work and a more detailed review before Romania commits substantial public capital.
