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Andrzej Sidło from the Ministry of Climate and Environment commented on the potential delay in the construction of the nuclear power plant in Pomerania. He said it was a matter of months rather than years. However, the exact time cannot be determined at this stage, and indicating a specific date is speculation.
Andrzej Sidło, legal advisor to the Nuclear Department at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, referred to the construction of the first nuclear power plant, which will be located in the Choczewo commune.
“In a nutshell, we can say that we are investigating whether we are ready to build the NPP. However, many things have already been done. The Vienna-based agency allowed for 19 methodological areas, including legal infrastructure, project financing, social acceptance, regulation, independence of nuclear supervision and local content. At the moment, we can say that we are well prepared, we are implementing the recommendations of the Vienna agency in an exemplary manner. We assess that everything that should have been done at each stage was done,” he answered a question from BiznesAlert.pl.
“We are currently at a very advanced stage of project preparation. We are approaching the conclusion of the EPC agreement, to put it simply, to start construction,” he added.
Sidło also referred to the planned date of commissioning of the reactor at the Polish nuclear power plant, which is scheduled for 2033.
“From the formal point of view, the Polish Nuclear Energy Programme (PPEJ) is not a law or a legal act, but a state policy in the context of nuclear energy. According to the law on public finances, such a document must be updated every four years. This is planned for this year. It will most likely contain minor modifications. It is possible to postpone, slightly delay, some scheduled dates. It will not be years, but rather a few months. There will also be changes resulting from changes in the economic or political context. One needs to make decisions about the second location and technology, or even the third. What about the SMRs? As officials, we have no influence on this, politicians must decide on this,” he told us.
When asked if delays in one aspect of the nuclear power plant construction could be compensated later on, Andrzej Sidło replied that he didn’t want to speculate. Once the contract is signed, and the construction works begin, the contractor will provide information whether it will fit in the planned time.
Initially, Poland wanted to start construction of a nuclear power plant in 2026 and launch the first reactor in 2033. However, negotiations on the construction contract and the analysis of the environmental decision are still ongoing, and there is a possibility that it will be referred for reconsideration. Grzegorz Onichimowski, president of PSE, said that in his opinion Poland needs nuclear power by 2033, but this deadline is not feasible. Also other experts, including Daniel Radomski on BiznesAlert.pl, have warned that the schedule for the first Polish nuclear power plant may not be met, and the potential delay could reach two years or more.
Wojciech Jakóbik / Marcin Karwowski
