Poland currently operates a single research reactor,

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

. It has no operational nuclear reactors for power production, but is to start construction of a plant with three Westinghouse

AP1000 The AP1000 is a nuclear power plant designed and sold by Westinghouse Electric Company. The plant is a pressurized water reactor with improved use of passive nuclear safety and many design features intended to lower its capital cost and improve ...

reactors in 2026, and is also intending to build small modular reactors. Poland operates a nuclear waste disposal site in

Różan Różan is a town in Mazovian Voivodeship, northeastern Poland, on the river Narew. National roads 60 and 61 intersect in the town. History In the late Middle Ages, Różan emerged as an important trade center of northeastern Mazovia. Enjoyi ...

, named ''Krajowe Składowisko Odpadów Promieniotwórczych'' (National Nuclear Waste Disposal Site) since 1961, where waste from the current and past reactors is being stored, without any incidents throughout its operational history.

Background

Around 70% of the nation's electricity is currently produced by burning hard

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

(of which Poland has the EU's largest reserves), at industrial facilities and large central generating stations such as the 5 GW

Bełchatów Power Station The Bełchatów Power Station is a coal-fired power station near Bełchatów, Poland. It is the largest thermal power station in Europe. The power station is owned and operated by PGE GiEK Oddział Elektrownia Bełchatów, a subsidiary of Polska ...

. With the need to reduce

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

for environmental, climate, and economic reasons, the country continues to explore deployment of nuclear reactors for electricity generation and industrial process heat.

National Nuclear Regulator

Nuclear activities in Poland are regulated by the national nuclear regulator Panstwowa Agencja Atomistyki (PAA). The PAA is a modern nuclear regulator who is an active member of European and international nuclear regulatory organizations.https://www.gov.pl/web/paa-en# National Atomic Energy Agency; Retrieved April 23, 2022.

International Relations

Poland is a signatory to all major international treaties regarding nuclear energy, a member state of

European Atomic Energy Community The European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom) is an international organisation established by the Euratom Treaty on 25 March 1957 with the original purpose of creating a specialist market for nuclear power in Europe, by developing nucl ...

, and one of the founding member states of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

in 1957.

History

1980 through 2000

In the 1980s, the Zarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant was under construction, but was abandoned on 4 September 1990.

2000 through 2020

A 2006 feasibility study suggested it optimal to build an 11.5

GWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James W ...

capacity nuclear power plant. However, this proving unaffordable in the immediate future, Poland decided to build a 4.5

nuclear power plant by 2030. In 2007, a draft energy policy proposed a 10

nuclear capacity by 2030 to provide 10% of electricity. The deadline gives an estimated ten years for investment and construction and five years of public campaigning. In July 2006,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

joined

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, and

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania to replace the

Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant ( lt, Ignalinos atominė elektrinė, IAE) is a decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant's sim ...

being shut down due to pressure from the EU. Poland would invest 22% with these other countries into the project, the Visaginas NPP main site would have been under principal construction by early 2016 with necessary prerequisite planning, financing, regulatory agency approval and logistical ground work in terms of infrastructure modernization and expansion finished and in place by 2015. The plant commercial operations scheduled to begin by 31 December 2022. The total costs of the project was to be

EUR The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...

6 billion.

was guaranteed to have 1,200

MWe The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...

from the power plant and has upgraded transmission capacity between

and Poland. After the nuclear project was abandoned, Lithuania instead became an importer of electricity from Poland. In a public opinion poll, 60% of the population supported construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland to reduce its dependence on foreign sources of energy. Additionally, 48% supported construction of a nuclear power plant in their neighborhood, citing local benefits that include lower energy costs. The popular Baltic Sea resort

Mielno Mielno (german: Groß Möllen or ) is a resort town in Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Mielno. It lies approximately north-west of Koszalin ...

was one of three sites selected, however in February 2012, residents voted overwhelmingly against the plan. Some 94 percent of the 2,389 people who took part in a referendum opposed the plant and only 5 percent supported it. In 2014, under the government of Prime Minister

Donald Tusk Donald Franciszek Tusk ( , ; born 22 April 1957) is a Polish politician who was President of the European Council from 2014 to 2019. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Poland from 2007 to 2014 and was a co-founder and leader of the Civic Pla ...

, Poland's Nuclear Power Program was adopted. Through the early 2020s the Polish Nuclear Power Program was managed by the group EJ1 of the state-owned utility

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. (PGE SA or PGE Group, the name can be translated as ''Polish Energy Group'') is a state-owned public power company and the largest power producing company in Poland. PGE is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and ...

2020 to current

Growing environmental,

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, and economic concerns among the Polish public, policymakers, and businesses continues to drive Polish interest in nuclear power in the 2020s. The most significant efforts are those of the state-owned nuclear development company

Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe sp. z o.o. (abbreviated PEJ) is a developer of nuclear power plants in Poland.https://ppej.pl/en/about-the-company About the Company It is a special purpose vehicle 100% owned by the State Treasury. The company is spe ...

regarding large

light water reactor The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron reacto ...

s in the 1000MWe to 1250MWe range and those of private industrial companies pursuing

small modular reactor Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a proposed class of nuclear fission reactors, smaller than conventional nuclear reactors, which can be built in one location (such as a factory), then shipped, commissioned, and operated at a separate site. The ...

s for deployment at industrial sites. In 2021 Polish Prime Minister

Mateusz Morawiecki Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki (; born 20 June 1968) is a Polish economist, historian and politician who has served as prime minister of Poland since 2017. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), he previously served in the cabinet of prime minister Beata ...

, jointly with prime ministers of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, signed an open letter to

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

calling for recognition of role of nuclear power as the only non-intermittent low-carbon energy source currently available at industrial scale in Europe. In April 2021

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

(PAN) published a comprehensive report on perspectives of

decarbonization Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...

of energy sector, calling for increased use of "any low-carbon energy sources", including

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

and

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

. Minister of energy Michał Kurtyka declared it's not realistic to look at low-carbon energy sector without nuclear power. A November 2021 poll indicated 74% in favor of building nuclear power plants in Poland in general, 58% supporting their location in their neighborhood and 39% opposing the latter. 82% believe nuclear power plants contribute to energy resilience of the country. A proposal has been also raised to retrofit thermal plants in Poland by replacing their coal boilers with SMRs, while preserving their existing generation and distribution infrastructure, which would reduce upfront capital costs by 28-35% and avoid emissions of 200 billion tons of .

2020s PEJ Large Light Water Reactors Proposals

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, a special purpose entity of Poland's largest energy group

known as EJ1 led the siting and development efforts for large light water reactors in Poland. In 2021, the functions of PGE EJ1 were transferred to a new state-owned entity,

(PEJ), which was charged with developing 6 to 9

of proven, large-scale, Generation III(+)

pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water reactor, light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary ...

s such as the

,https://ustda.gov/ustda-advances-polands-civil-nuclear-energy-program-by-funding-u-s-industry-led-study/ USTDA Advances Poland’s Civil Nuclear Energy Program by Funding U.S. Industry-Led Study; June 30, 2021.

APR-1400 The APR-1400 (for Advanced Power Reactor 1400 MW electricity) is an advanced pressurized water nuclear reactor designed by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). Originally known as the Korean Next Generation Reactor (KNGR), this ...

, and EPR.https://ppej.pl/en/about-the-company About the Company It is 100% owned by the State Treasury.https://ppej.pl/en/news/news "New company name: Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe sp. z o.o." July 7, 2021 PEJ is conducting siting studies and planning for construction and operation of six 1-1.5 GWe reactors starting from 2026 with the planned completion of first reactor by 2033 and all of them connected to the grid by 2040 with total nameplate capacity of 6-9 GWe. The siting investigation conducted by PGE and PEJ included screening 92 potential locations before detailed studies were conducted two final candidate sties. Two sites in

Pomorskie Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

- Żarnowiec and Lubiatowo-Kopalino – were subject to more detailed scrutiny and the results published in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report submitted to the General Director for Environmental Protection on March 29, 2022. The EIA considered multiple reactors generating up to 3,750MWe at the site.https://www.foratom.org/blog/announcement-of-the-preferred-site-for-the-first-npp-new-build-in-poland/ Announcement of the preferred site for the first NPP new build in Poland; April 12, 2022. On December 22, 2021, PEJ announced the preferred location for Poland's first commercial nuclear power plant as the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

coastal commune of

Choczewo Choczewo (; csb, Chòczewò; formerly german: Chottschow, (1938–45): ''Gotendorf'') is a village in Wejherowo County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Choczewo. It ...

Wejherowo County __NOTOC__ Wejherowo County ( csb, Wejrowsczi kréz, pl, powiat wejherowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland, on the Baltic coast. It came into being on January 1, 199 ...

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

at a site called Lubiatowo-Kopalino.https://ppej.pl/en/news/preferred-site-of-the-first-polish-nuclear-power-plant-indicated-by-investor "Preferred site of the first Polish nuclear power plant indicated by investor"; December 22, 2021 In October 2022, Poland announced that it had selected Westinghouse to build the first three-unit plant, with construction to start in 2026 and commissioning of the first reactor scheduled for 2033. A formal decision on a second three units is to be taken at a later date.

2020s Commercial Large Pressurized Water Reactors Proposals

In October 2022, Polish utilities PGE and ZE PAK announced an agreement with

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP; ) is a subsidiary of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). It operates large nuclear and hydroelectric plants in South Korea, which are responsible for about 27 percent of the country's electric power. I ...

to explore building a number of APR-1400 reactors near ZE PAK's coal-fired plant at Pątnów. This development effort is led by private industry and is separate from (and in addition to) the government-led effort with PEJ.

2020s Industrial Small Modular Reactors Proposals

Private chemical industry producer Synthos (owned by

Michał Sołowow Michał Sołowow (born 11 July 1962 in Kielce) is a Polish billionaire businessman and rally driver. His industrial group has 18 production plants in 8 countries and sells products in more than 60 countries on six continents and has over 16,000 ...

) plans deployment of a GE Hitachi

BWRX-300 The BWRX-300 is a design for a small modular reactor, small modular nuclear reactor proposed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH). The BWRX-300 would feature Passive nuclear safety, passive safety, in that neither external power nor operator action ...

SMR in its plant in

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rive ...

. In August 2021 Synthos has been joined by ZE PAK coal power station (owned by Zygmunt Solorz), with both planning construction of six 300 MW reactors. In 2022 KGHM, one of the largest Poland's consumers of electricity, declared that shifting from coal to nuclear power is the only way for European industries to grow and remain competitive. KGHM signed a contract for delivery of VOYGR SMR units with

NuScale NuScale Power is a publicly traded American company that designs and markets small modular reactors (SMRs). It is headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, United States. NuScale has been approved to build reactors in Idaho, in 2029 and 2030. The design ...

. KGHM and joint venture Orlen Synthos Green Energy submitted applications on July 8, 2022 to the PAA for formal General Opinions on their chosen reactor technologies. These applications mark the first licensing action for SMRs in Poland. Under Polish regulations, the President of the PAA must provide a response to the applications within six months, unless an exception is taken.Applications for SMRs submitted to Polish regulator; World Nuclear News; July 11, 2022. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Applications-for-SMRs-submitted-to-Polish-regulato

External Links

*Republic of Poland, "Polish Atom" olish language- https://www.gov.pl/web/polski-atom *Polish Nuclear Power Program (2020) nglish language- https://www.gov.pl/attachment/4cddd10a-5e8b-414d-bb95-670f6507d73e

References

{{Europe topic, Nuclear energy in Energy in Poland