atw 2018-07
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<strong>atw</strong> Vol. 63 (<strong>2018</strong>) | Issue 6/7 ı June/July<br />
board. Recently, the Polish media has speculated about<br />
possible government plans to involve state-owned energy<br />
companies in the nuclear project. Officials from Orlen,<br />
Poland’s largest oil refiner and petrol retailer, recently<br />
hinted to journalists that the company would be interested<br />
in cooperating with PGE EJ1 on the nuclear project.<br />
In another twist, in September 2017, Jozef Sobolewski,<br />
director of the Polish ministry of energy’s nuclear energy<br />
department, told a parliamentary committee on nuclear<br />
energy that the government was considering using<br />
“ domestic” financing for construction of the first station.<br />
He said the government did not want to have its decision<br />
about the project dominated by financial markets. “It's not<br />
a financial project, it’s an energy project”, he said.<br />
Mr Sobolewski estimated the cost of building 1 GW of<br />
nuclear capacity at € 2.8 bn to € 3.25 bn, based on the<br />
assumption that a 3-GW station would be built.<br />
Rafał Zasun, an editor at the specialised energy portal<br />
Wysokie Napiecie, told NucNet that the main reason for<br />
delaying the final decision on the nuclear programme is<br />
the government’s inability to agree on its financing. “The<br />
idea of building a nuclear power station has strong<br />
opponents in government and in state-owned energy<br />
companies”, he said.<br />
According to Aleksandra Gawlikowska-Fyk, head of the<br />
international economic relations and energy policy<br />
programme at the Polish Institute of International Affairs,<br />
the energy ministry is in the process of revising the national<br />
energy policy framework for the first time since 2009.<br />
Because there are many overlapping aspects, the review<br />
impacts the nuclear programme’s schedule, she said.<br />
A decision is now expected by mid-<strong>2018</strong>, according to<br />
the latest reports.<br />
Why Does Poland Need Nuclear?<br />
Poland needs nuclear because of its low carbon footprint<br />
and as a way to decrease the country’s carbon emissions,<br />
said energy minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski. He told a<br />
recent conference that Poland’s ongoing large-scale<br />
investment in three new coal-fired power plants may be<br />
the country’s last fossil fuel venture, indicating a possible<br />
energy shift in the country’s revived plans to embrace<br />
nuclear power.<br />
There are other factors that point to the need for<br />
nuclear. Poland signed up to the EU’s target to reduce<br />
greenhouse gas emissions by 20 % from 1990 levels by<br />
2020. It has had one of the fastest growing economies in<br />
the EU for the past decade and electricity demand is<br />
expected to grow by about 36 % by 2030.<br />
“Poland needs to decrease emissions and nuclear offers<br />
that”, Ms Gawlikowska-Fyk said. “This argument has been<br />
used for years”.<br />
“It is no secret that the European Commission expects a<br />
vision of the future energy mix in the country and nuclear<br />
is showcased by Poland as a way to reduce emissions”, she<br />
said.<br />
According to Ms Gawlikowska-Fyk, smog is “the<br />
elephant in the room” and a significant influence on Polish<br />
public opinion. A report by the World Health Organisation<br />
(WHO) says that out of the 50 European cities most<br />
affected by smog, 33 are in Poland. The WHO estimates<br />
that around 50,000 Poles die every year due to illness<br />
caused by air pollution.<br />
But the prominence of coal mining and coal-related<br />
industries in Poland presents challenges to every government<br />
when it comes to energy sector reforms. Poland is the<br />
second largest coal mining country in Europe, second to<br />
Germany, and the coal industry employs 100,000 people.<br />
However, experts have warned for years that the<br />
cheapest sources of coal in the Silesian Basin are nearly<br />
depleted and that the country’s mining sector will have to<br />
prepare for higher costs in the future.<br />
Meanwhile, work continues on the choice of a<br />
technology for the project. The PPEJ did not shortlist a<br />
technology; the only requirement is for reactors to be of<br />
the Generation III/III+ design because of their improved<br />
safety and 60-year design lifespan. The number of units<br />
that will be built and their site configuration will depend<br />
on the technology choice.<br />
In December 2015 PGE EJ1 said five companies had<br />
expressed an interest in supplying reactor technology. They<br />
were GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas, Korea Electric<br />
Power Corporation, SNC-Lavalin Nuclear Inc, Westinghouse<br />
Electric Company and Areva (now Framatome). PGE EJ1<br />
said at the time that preliminary discussions had been held<br />
with all five.<br />
A public tender for the construction of the first nuclear<br />
power station was scheduled to be announced in late 2017<br />
or early <strong>2018</strong>, but this now seems unlikely.<br />
Author<br />
NucNet<br />
The Independent Global Nuclear News Agency<br />
Editor responsible for this story: Kamen Kraev<br />
Avenue des Arts 56<br />
1000 Brussels, Belgium<br />
www.nucnet.org<br />
INSIDE NUCLEAR WITH NUCNET 367<br />
Inside Nuclear with NucNet<br />
Poland Faces Delays and Decisions as It Makes Ambitious Plans to Go Nuclear ı June/July