OSGE seeks approval for SMRs at six Polish locations

Friday, 28 April 2023

The decision-in-principle will formally confirm that the investment in the plant is in line with the public interest and the policies pursued by the state, including energy policy. The decision will also empower OSGE to apply for a number of further administrative decisions, including siting decisions and, later, construction permits.

On 17 April, OSGE announced it had shortlisted seven locations in Poland for further geological surveys to host SMR plants based on GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300, for which it holds the exclusive right in Poland. The company said it has selected the seven locations after looking at "tens" of potential sites in Poland.

The locations were: Ostrołęka, Włocławek, Stawy Monowskie, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Nowa Huta, Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone and Warsaw. The company said these are locations with, among others, "high energy-intensive production plants, as well as locations that are optimal for heating system purposes".

The list of sites for which OSGE has now applied for decisions-in-principle does not include Warsaw.

The sites applied for (Image: OSGE)

In December 2021, GE Hitachi, BWXT Canada and Synthos Green Energy (SGE) signed a Letter of Intent to cooperate in deploying BWRX-300 SMRs in Poland. Orlen Synthos Green Energy - a joint venture between chemical producers SGE and PKN Orlen - submitted an application to Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency on 8 July last year for the assessment of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's BWRX-300.

OSGE's is the latest in a flurry of applications for decisions-in-principle for nuclear power plants in Poland. On 14 April, copper and silver producer KGHM Polska Miedź SA submitted an application for a decision-in-principle on the construction of a NuScale VOYGR SMR power plant in Poland. Three days later, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe submitted an application for a decision-in-principle on the construction of the country's first large nuclear power plant, at either Lubiatowo or Kopalino in Poland's Choczewo municipality in the province of Pomerania. The plant would be based on Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor technology.