Poland Should Speed Up Planning For First Nuclear Plant, Says IEA

25 Jan (NucNet): Poland’s government should “move expediently” to determine and announce the timeline, constraints and support mechanisms for the country’s first nuclear reactor units, an International Energy Agency (IEA) report says. The report, released on 25 January 2017, says this would provide long-term certainty for the licensee to proceed with investment decisions, siting characterisation and selection activities, and technology evaluation. The report also says Poland should find technically qualified personnel such as nuclear, mechanical and electrical engineers and technicians with nuclear power operation or regulatory experience. Poland does not have any nuclear generating capacity, but according to the IEA nuclear plays a prominent role in Poland’s energy security and clean energy planning. Under the previous government, plans were published to develop and deploy nuclear capacity by the end of 2022. In mid-2015, the government started consultation on a new energy policy up to 2050. During the consultation period a new government was elected, and this new government is revisiting the draft 2050 strategy and intends to publish its “strategic vision” later this year. The IEA said it is anticipated that the new energy strategy will be consistent with the previous policy in its strong support for nuclear generating capacity, including existing activities to establish nuclear generating capacity. The IEA said the projected timeline for bringing the first reactor online has continued to slip from the 2022 date first laid out, but Poland has nonetheless made significant progress since that original projection. Considering the progress to date and the tasks still ahead, operation of the first unit by 2030 now appears more realistic. The report is online: http://bit.ly/2k2T2MD