The Polish Cabinet passed a resolution updating the Polish Nuclear Power Program (PNPP). The document includes a schedule of the first nuclear power plant construction and determination of the PNPP scale.
The Polish Nuclear Power Program, adopted in 2014, specifies the roles and responsibilities of institutions involved in the PNPP implementation, as well as the issues related to ensuring nuclear safety and radiological protection. The PNPP includes recommendations for management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste.
At the beginning of October 2020, the Polish Cabinet adopted an update to the 2014 PNPP submitted by the Ministry of Climate. The PNPP update assumes the construction of nuclear reactors of 6 to 9 GWe total capacity, using tested, large-scale, generation III or III+ pressurized water nuclear reactor technology (PWR). The first of them would be commissioned in 2033. The new schedule of the nuclear project provides also for the technology selection in 2021, followed by the approval of the selected site of the first Polish nuclear power plant, and signing an agreement with the technology provider and the general contractor (in 2022).
The implementation of nuclear energy in our country is based on three pillars: energy security, climate and environment, and economy.
According to documents prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the introduction of nuclear energy technology requires from 10 to 15 years of preparatory work. The special purpose company responsible for the preparation of the investment process related to the construction of the first Polish nuclear power plant, PGE EJ 1, has started drafting the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA Report) and the Site Evaluation Report (SER). Simultaneously, site evaluation and environmental surveys have been continued in two location variants under consideration, namely “Lubiatowo-Kopalino” (in the Choczewo commune) and “Żarnowiec” (in the Krokowa and Gniewino communes).