Uranium prospecting in Romania has started some 50 years ago, when a bilateral agreement between Romania and the former Soviet Union had been concluded and a joint Romanian-Soviet enterprise was created. The production started in 1952 by the opening of some deposits from western Transylvania (Bihor and Ciudanovita). From 1962 the production has continued only with Romanian participation on the ore deposit Avram Iancu and from 1985 on the deposits from Eastern Carpathians (Crucea and Botusana). Starting with 1978 the extracted ores have been completely processed in the Uranium Ore Processing Plant from Feldioara, Brasov. Complying with the initial stipulations of the Nuclear National Program launched at the beginning of the 1980s, the construction of a nuclear power station in Cernavoda has started in Romania, using natural uranium and heavy water (CANDU type), having five units of 650 MW installed capacity. After 1989 this initial Nuclear National Program was revised and the construction of the first unit (number 1) was finalized and put in operation in 1996. In 2001 the works at the unit number 2 were resumed, having the year 2005 as the scheduled activating date. The future of the other 3 units, being in different construction phases, hasn’t been clearly decided. Taking into consideration the exhaustion degree of some ore deposits and from the prospect of exploiting other ore deposits, the uranium industry will be subject of an ample restructuring process. This process includes workings of modernization of the mines in operation and of the processing plant, increasing the profitableness, lowering of the production costs by closing out and ecological rehabilitation of some areas affected by mining works and even new openings of some uraniferous exploitations. This paper presents the actual situation and the prospects of uranium mining industry on the base of some new technical and economical strategic concepts in accordance with the actual Romanian Program for Nuclear Energetics.
Skip Nav Destination
10th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
April 14–18, 2002
Arlington, Virginia, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Nuclear Engineering Division
ISBN:
0-7918-3598-7
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Restructuring the Uranium Mining Industry in Romania: Actual Situation and Prospects
P. D. Georgescu,
P. D. Georgescu
R&D Institute for Rare and Radioactive Metals, Bucharest, Romania
Search for other works by this author on:
S. T. Petrescu,
S. T. Petrescu
R&D Institute for Rare and Radioactive Metals, Bucharest, Romania
Search for other works by this author on:
T. F. Iuhas
T. F. Iuhas
Uranium National Company, Bucharest, Romania
Search for other works by this author on:
P. D. Georgescu
R&D Institute for Rare and Radioactive Metals, Bucharest, Romania
S. T. Petrescu
R&D Institute for Rare and Radioactive Metals, Bucharest, Romania
T. F. Iuhas
Uranium National Company, Bucharest, Romania
Paper No:
ICONE10-22657, pp. 457-462; 6 pages
Published Online:
March 4, 2009
Citation
Georgescu, PD, Petrescu, ST, & Iuhas, TF. "Restructuring the Uranium Mining Industry in Romania: Actual Situation and Prospects." Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering. 10th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Volume 4. Arlington, Virginia, USA. April 14–18, 2002. pp. 457-462. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE10-22657
Download citation file:
5
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
The Fabulous Nuclear Odyssey of Belgium
J. Pressure Vessel Technol (June,2009)
Nuclear Fission, Today and Tomorrow: From Renaissance to Technological Breakthrough (Generation IV)
J. Pressure Vessel Technol (August,2011)
Thermal Aspects of Uranium Carbide and Uranium Dicarbide Fuels in Supercritical Water-Cooled Nuclear Reactors
J. Eng. Gas Turbines Power (February,2011)
Related Chapters
Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Non-Proliferation Nuclear Forensics: Canadian Perspective
Design of Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors
Global Applications of the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code
Development of Nuclear Boiler and Pressure Vessels in Taiwan
Companion Guide to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Volume 3, Third Edition