Poland is still one of the few European countries that doesn”t have a single nuclear reactor.
Poles may only know of nuclear power plants from movies and television. But they remember their impact on people’s lives through tragic memories such as the Chernobyl disaster.
Now this will soon change
“We constantly need new energy sources. We need new power plants that will provide electricity to the dynamically growing Polish economy, ” says Zbigniew Gryglas from the Ministry of State Assets.
It is known that Poland will not abandon coal completely. It is also known that renewable energy is not able to meet the needs of the Polish economy.
So, the Polish Energy Strategy has provided for the construction of a civil, energy nuclear sector.
“We achieve something that is very important for Europe. On the one hand, care for the natural environment, on the other: we maintain energy security,” says energy expert, MEP Grzegorz Tobiszowski.
“A fight for climate and clean air”
The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda says its “a fight for climate and clean air. We must make changes in our energy sector. We must have more gas-based energy. We will probably also build nuclear power plants.”
Poland won’t do it alone because it has no experience and know-how. It will work together with the French or Americans.
“I think that we can expect these decisions already this year,” says Piotr Muller, a spokesman for the Polish government.
“Negotiations are underway, it would be irresponsible on my part if I pointed out who is more preferred because these are talks about big money.”
The government assumes that nuclear will contribute 20 per cent to the Polish energy mix.
Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, Piotr Naimski says “in 20 years, we want to produce 6-9 gigawatts of nuclear power, which will mean that we will build six reactors in several places in Poland.”
It is still unknown where the first Polish nuclear power plant will be built
“Currently, there is talk about the location of the first nuclear power plant and it will be located on the Baltic Sea. Two locations west of Gdansk are currently under consideration,” says Paweł Gajda from the Department of Nuclear Energy, AGH.
The cost of building the new power facility is difficult to gauge because so many questions remain, but the Government’s early estimates suggest spending around 25 to 30 billion euros.
“We can afford to build nuclear power plants in Poland! thank you very much!” says Naimski.
There has been talk about nuclear power plants in Poland for over 30 years. The government insists that it doesn’t throw words to the wind.
In the face of climate challenges and external political pressure, it seems that this time Poland will move from words to deeds.
