Polish Briefing: Nuclear as clean as RES? NPP prep in Poland “on the final stretch”

What goes on in Poland on the 29th of January.

Nuclear as clean as RES? Preparations for an NPP construction in Poland “on the final stretch”

During a webinar organized by the Students’ Scientific Circle of Energy Law, the topic of changes in EU regulations that may limit nuclear energy in Europe was raised. Poland wants to have its own nuclear power plant and is on the ‘final stretch’ of preparations.

“Those who want to do away with nuclear power have a real problem. According to the IPCC, the generation of nuclear power causes emissions at a level of 12 g/KWh, which is comparable to onshore wind power generation. Some people stick to their old mindset, which prevents them from considering the atom as pure energy. However, there are attempts at tinkering with the taxonomy, which can hardly be called a law. It is just a catalog of investments that can be considered environmentally friendly,” Tomasz Nowacki, director of the nuclear energy department at the Ministry of Climate and Environment, explained in response to BiznesAlert.pl’s questions. “Nobody will ever say that nuclear energy is emission-free, but according to some, under no circumstances should it be added to the basket of green energy that can count on EU support,” Nowacki stated.

“I think that nuclear energy will defend itself. The course of events will largely depend on the position of France. This issue will test its ability to impact the European Union. Whatever happens, some Finnish and Swedish Greens are already in favor of nuclear power. The head of the Swedish Greens supported the construction of a nuclear power plant at the European Environment Council. The support of young people in Austria for this energy source is growing. The government wants to educate them so that they change their minds, but it may fail,” the participant of the webinar enumerated.

He assured that the decisions regarding the Polish Nuclear Power Program were “on the final stretch”. Poland wants to build the first nuclear reactor in 2033 and then add more capacity, up to 6-9 GW, by 2043.