Obtaining a construction permit for a new nuclear power plant requires the applicant to present safety analysis on their specific design and secure an independent verification of their analysis. This is the first major step in the process of building a nuclear power plant. The safety analysis is performed initially at the design stage and continued into operation of the nuclear facility to ensure that all nuclear safety requirements will be met from construction start to the end of the facility’s operation.
The president of Poland’s National Atomic Energy Agency, Panstwowa Agencja Atomistyki, has evaluated the applicant’s safety analysis and the independent verification of the safety analysis, the proposed description of the verification, considering both domestic and international nuclear safety requirements. The PAA President assessed that the description of the independent verification of the safety analysis correctly identified the main components, thereby confirming the safety analysis. This is the first opinion of its kind in Poland and one step forward in obtaining all the necessary approvals needed for the country’s first large-scale nuclear power plant.”
Poland is moving forward with their plans that began in September 2021. They are building and operating 6 PWR with a combined installed capacity of 6-9 GWe by 2040 as part of the country’s plan to reduce its reliance on coal. Construction of the first nuclear power plant will start in 2026 and planned for commission in 2033. Subsequent units will be implemented every 2-3 years. The coastal towns of Lubiatowo and Kopalino in Poland’s Choczewo municipality in the province of Pomerania were named as the preferred location for the country’s first large nuclear power plant.
In November 2022, the Polish government announced plans for their first nuclear power plant to be built in Pomerania using the Westinghouse AP1000 design, with a 3750 Mwe capacity. And they recently signed an agreement for the delivery of the plant with Westinghouse, Bechtel, and PEJ.
ZEPAK, PGE, and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power have signed a letter of intent to cooperate on a nuclear power plant project in Patnow, in central Poland, assessing the viability of building South Korean APR1400 reactors on the site.
