Application lodged for Poland's first nuclear power plant

One of the key elements of the documentation submitted with the licence application is the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR). This report is one of the most important attachments, detailing the power plant design and its location. It also includes comprehensive analyses of technical and environmental factors demonstrating that the proposed solutions meet all requirements for nuclear safety, physical protection, radiological protection, and nuclear material safeguards for this type of facility.

Furthermore, the application includes, among other things, a quality assurance programme, safety classification, the design of the physical protection system for the nuclear facility and nuclear materials, basic information on the radiation emergency management system, and documentation confirming that the investor has the appropriate technical, human, and organisational capabilities to implement the project.

Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) noted that more than 200 experts from various fields, primarily nuclear safety and radiation protection, worked on the application. It was submitted six months ahead of the scheduled deadline in the project's timeline.

"This is one of the most important days for the implementation of the project for the first Polish nuclear power plant," said Marek Woszczyk, President of the Management Board of PEJ. "This is the first and, so far, only such application in the history of modern Poland, since 1989. I would like to thank everyone involved in preparing this extensive document, which, as announced, we submitted at the end of the first quarter of this year. The enormous work undertaken by the employees of PEJ and the scale of the application itself, which, together with its attachments, runs to over 40,000 pages, demonstrates the scale and complexity of our project."

"Submitting an application for a construction permit for the first nuclear power plant in Poland is a signal that we are determined to pursue an investment that will guarantee stable energy prices for Polish families for decades and drive modern industry," added Minister Wojciech Wrochna, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure.

_{The planned plant (Image: Polish Government)}

Pursuant to the provisions of the Atomic Energy Law, the President of the PAA will issue a decision regarding a permit to build the plant within 24 months of the submission of the application along with the required documents, excluding any time given to the applicant to supplement the documentation.

"Before proceeding to the substantive assessment, the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency will conduct a formal and legal review of the licence application," the PAA said. "Only after this assessment is completed, or, in the case of any formal deficiencies in the application, after they have been corrected, will we notify the initiation of this process in the PAA Public Information Bulletin. The application and a summary safety report will also be published there."

It said the safety assessment of the planned plant will be conducted in multiple stages. It will include a detailed review of documentation describing, among other things, the technical solutions used in the reactor design, the organisational solutions that will be implemented during preparation and construction of the nuclear power plant, safety analyses, and operational limits and conditions for compliance with applicable laws. In some aspects of this assessment, the PAA said it will also rely on the assistance of independent, authorised laboratories and expert organisations.

In November 2022, the then Polish government selected Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant, comprising of three units, at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Choczewo municipality.

PEJ said it expects to pour first concrete for the plant's first unit in the fourth quarter of 2028. In order to meet this schedule, the company must obtain both a construction permit from the PAA and a building permit from the Pomeranian Voivode. PEJ said it plans to submit a building permit application in 2027.

Construction of each reactor is expected to take about seven years. This will be followed by approximately one year of testing and commissioning. The first reactor will begin commercial operation in 2036, the second in 2037, and the third in 2038.