Bucharest, November 9 (.).- The US export-import bank, Exim Bank, today officially offered the Romanian state two loans totaling $3,050 million to finance the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the only nuclear power plant operating in Romania.

“It’s a big step for Romania’s independence in the energy field,” Romanian Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said in statements collected by the local public news agency, Agerpres. .

Popescu spoke these words during the appropriations announcement ceremony, which took place during the UN Climate Change Conference being held these days in Egypt. US Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry was present at the event.

The Romanian minister underlined that obtaining these credits will allow Romania to finalize more quickly its plans for the extension of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, located next to the Danube in the city of the same name in the south-east of the country. .

The Cernavoda plant is the only one in operation in Romania and currently has two reactors. The two credits offered by the United States will allow the construction of reactors 3 and 4 of the plant. In 2020, Romania signed a cooperation agreement with the United States for the expansion of the nuclear power plant.

The two reactors in operation use Canadian CANDU technology, since the plant was designed in Canada in the 1980s, during the communist era.

“We cannot achieve zero neutrality before 2050 in terms of climate impact without nuclear being part of the energy mix,” John Kerry said at the ceremony.