Poland Abandons Gaski As Potential Site For First Nuclear Station

18 Jul (NucNet): Poland’s PGE EJ1, the company in charge of the country’s first nuclear power station project, has confirmed it will not carry out site selection and environmental examinations for the Gąski site in the northern province of Western Pomerania. Site selection examinations will now focus on two sites – Lubiatowo-Kopalino and Żarnowiec – both close to Poland’s Baltic coast in the nearby province of Pomerania, the company said in a statement. The decision was made after initial studies showed that Lubiatowo-Kopalino and Żarnowiec fulfill the criteria necessary for hosting a nuclear power station “to the fullest extent”. In May 2016, Poland’s General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDEP) approved those two locations as the focus of initial environmental impact studies for the nuclear project. PGE EJ1 abandoned another possible site, Choczewo, because of its proximity to the region around Białogóra, part of the EU’s Natura 2000 natural reserve network. PGE EJ1 has now said it is dropping Gąski because of the recommendations that Lubiatowo-Kopalino and Żarnowiec best fulfill the criteria for a repository site. PGE EJ1 has said it wants to choose a preferred site by the end of 2017.