14-07-2025
Construction workers break ground on first-of-its-kind nuclear facility: 'The most significant development'
Across the world, investment in renewable energy is evident. Now, advances in Romania are pushing the needle closer to a clean energy future.
According to Romania Insider, construction of Europe's very first tritium removal facility began in early June 2025. This would put the facility in a great position for future nuclear fusion processes.
The work is happening at a nuclear power plant in Cernavodă and was called "the most significant development in Romania's nuclear sector since the commissioning of Cernavodă's Unit 2 reactor" by Sebastian Burduja, the Minister of Energy in Romania, according to Romania Insider.
In simple terms, nuclear energy works by harnessing the energy contained in an atom's nucleus — either by splitting the atom (in nuclear fission) or by combining atoms (in nuclear fusion).
"Nuclear fusion is the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy," the International Atomic Energy Agency has stated.
By removing tritium from the water used in existing nuclear fission reactors, the water can, in turn, be reused, and the tritium stored for fuel in future nuclear fusion reactors — as Romania Insider explained. This process conserves two vital resources at once.
"This project positions Romania among the few countries capable of producing and exporting tritium — seen as the fuel of the future for fusion energy programs …" Energy Minister Burduja said to the news outlet.
Nuclear energy is the largest source of "clean energy" in the U.S, according to the Department of Energy (defining it as clean energy because it produces almost no carbon pollution). It can supply energy on demand — unlike wind and solar, which rely on the weather or time of day — making the move away from dirty fuel sources more seamless.
Nuclear fission, which generates electricity today, does create radioactive waste and has a history of uncommon but significant disasters. By comparison, nuclear fusion, which is still in development for producing electricity, has advantages that include not creating long-lived radioactive waste while producing abundant clean energy.
Investing in renewable energy for your home is another way to tap into the benefits of pollution-free energy — such as cleaner air, a smaller carbon footprint, and cheaper utility bills. A straightforward way of doing this is the installation of rooftop solar panels.
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Not only can these panels bring your personal electric bill down to at or near $0 a month, but they also don't release the toxic, heat-trapping fumes that are produced by power plants that rely on coal, gas, or oil.
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