Doicești SMR Review: First Module Decides 462 MW Plant — NRG-IA

Nuclearelectrica is entering a decision-making phase that is far more critical than a simple procedural continuation of the Doicești SMR project. The Board of Directors has added two items to the agenda of the July 15, 2026 General Shareholders' Meeting (AGA) that shift the project's center of gravity: an update on the status of the conditions associated with the Final Investment Decision (FID), which had an implementation deadline of June 2026, and the approval to initiate an assessment on the opportunity of updating the Implementation Strategy approved in 2022. The documents detailing which conditions have been met, postponed, or reformulated are scheduled for publication on July 1, after 6:00 PM. The decision does not officially suspend the project, nor does it cancel the FID approved in February. However, it opens up a necessary reassessment before committing the next major tranche of capital. The project must demonstrate that it can transition from the phase of studies, preliminary licensing, and contractual structuring into a bankable, permittable, and executable project with controllable costs. The 462 MW plant has not been officially reduced to a single module The strategy approved in 2022 formally remains a plant of approximately 462 MWe, consisting of six 77 MWe NuScale modules at the site of the former Doicești coal-fired power plant. This is also the configuration evaluated by the US nuclear regulator for the US460 design: six modules of 77 MWe each. However, the February 2026 FID changed the commercial sequencing and risk distribution. The documentation approved by shareholders shows that RoPower Nuclear recommended scenario A1.3, in which only a single 77 MWe module initially becomes available. The other five modules would be acquired and commissioned only after the first module demonstrates that it operates according to design specifications. Two contractual mechanisms are envisaged: either RoPower initially purchases only the first module, with the other five remaining NuScale's responsibility until its operation is proven, or RoPower purchases all six modules, and NuScale must refund the cost of the five additional modules if the first fails to perform as designed. NuScale's commitment to one of these two options is highlighted in the FID documentation itself as one of the project's most critical conditions. Consequently, the first module is not merely a simple first phase of construction. It serves as the technical, commercial, and contractual test upon which the expansion of the plant to its designed capacity is conditioned. A conditional FID is not an unconditional construction permit The Final Investment Decision approved in February was presented as a major breakthrough for the Romanian SMR project. However, official documents show that the FID is tied to imperative conditions. The note sent to shareholders specifies that the failure to meet any of these conditions renders the project unfeasible and prevents its execution in the approved form. The detailed conditions are not fully public. The annexes containing the feasibility study, the list of RoPower conditions, the list of SNN conditions, the financial model, and the technical documents were made available to shareholders on a confidential basis. The public has access to the general architecture of the project, but not to the updated total cost, the calculated LCOE, the accepted leverage level, the cost of capital, supplier guarantees, or the revenue scenarios supporting profitability. This explains the significance of the July General Shareholders' Meeting. Shareholders will not merely review a technical timeline. They will receive the first official update on the conditions that were supposed to be finalized by June: financing, contracts, licensing, supply chains, commercial commitments, and risk mitigation mechanisms regarding the first module. The project timeline needs a credible update The FID documentation targeted July 2033 for the commercial operation of the first module and December 2034 for the full plant, subject to concluding commercial agreements for modules 2–6. For the Pre-EPC phase, the document estimated a duration of approximately 15 months and a budget of around $600 million. This stage was intended to establish the detailed budget, the list of contractors, the contractual architecture, financing, and the execution schedule. Prior to the Pre-EPC phase, RoPower had to complete geotechnical investigations, proceed with licensing, finalize the Pre-EPC contract, prepare the procurement of long-lead equipment, and define supply chains. The inclusion of the strategy assessment on the AGA agenda shortly after the initial deadline for the FID conditions indicates that the development sequence requires recalibration. This does not automatically mean the project is abandoned or that all conditions have failed. It means that shareholders must decide whether the 2022 strategy still aligns with the current risk structure,…