US-Polish nuclear deal in line with government's goals says min

Poland’s minister for state assets has welcomed the signing of a joint investment deal between the Polish copper and silver company KGHM and Nuscale, a US company, to develop small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), saying it is line with the government’s strategic goals.

The agreement, signed on Wednesday, concerns a contract for the construction of least four NuScale SMRs which have the capacity to each produce up to 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe).

State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin told the wPolityce web portal that "the signing of a letter of intent for the construction of 12 modular nuclear reactors in Poland is the next stage in the transformation of the domestic power sector to more stable and cleaner energy sources."

He added: "The joint KGHM and NuScale investment is a development impulse for the Polish economy as well as a source of state-of-the-art technology for the nation's SMR sector.'

The minister pointed out that the undertaking was in line with the "strategic goals of the government," which include reducing household costs, green transformation and the energy independence of Poland.

He also said that the Polish company would not just be the recipient of a ready-made solution, but would play an active role in the development of the technology.

"KGHM is the first entity to undertake steps to build nuclear reactors," said Sasin. "In accordance with the programme, the first nuclear power plant in Poland is set to start operating as early as 2029. It will most likely be the largest installation of its kind in the world.

"The advantage of nuclear energy is the stability of energy supplies and the low share of the cost of this fuel in the costs of energy production," he continued. "The cost of the entire fuel cycle accounts for 10-15 percent of the total cost of electricity generated by in nuclear energy."