Minister of Industry Marzena Czarnecka and Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan Shinji Takeuchi signed a memorandum on cooperation between Poland and Japan in the nuclear sector on Thursday in Warsaw.
According to information from the Ministry of Industry, the memorandum confirms the countries' interest in cooperation for the development of nuclear energy and encourages cooperation at the level of companies and technologies.
– The memorandum is intended to introduce the Japanese nuclear business to Poland to help build nuclear resources – explained Minister Czarnecka on Thursday.
The ministry's announcement stated, among other things, that the signed memorandum “confirms the interest in bilateral cooperation of both countries for the development of nuclear energy as a technology that allows achieving the goals of energy transformation and has a positive impact on energy security.”
Poland will build nuclear competences
As added, the agreement also encourages cooperation at the level of economic entities and industrial technologies. The ministry emphasizes that “leading companies in the Japanese nuclear sector show interest in developing cooperation with European companies.”
The MP specified that one of the elements of Polish-Japanese cooperation in the field of nuclear energy is cooperation with the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum International Cooperation Center (JAIF ICC – JICC), which operates under the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
According to the ministry, JICC supports building competences of countries implementing nuclear energy by exchanging information, expert missions and organizing workshops, conferences and seminars in the areas of: human resources development, social communication, nuclear safety and preparation of infrastructure for nuclear projects.
“This cooperation allows Poland to build nuclear skills and competences, which is crucial for the implementation of the Polish Nuclear Energy Program (PPEJ),” the Ministry of Industry said.
Polish nuclear plans
The current version of the Polish Nuclear Energy Program (PPEJ) from 2020 assumes the construction of two nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 6-9 GW by the 100% owned company. to the State Treasury, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) as an investor and operator. The previous government indicated the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium as the partner for the first power plant. It is to be built in the Lubiatowo-Kopalino location in Pomerania. The Ministry of Climate announced that the PPEJ will be updated later this year. The program is to include the construction of SMRs (small reactors) in Poland.
According to the latest declarations of the current government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, the outflow of the so-called the first nuclear concrete for the first reactor in Lubiatów is scheduled to take place in 2028, and the government has the contractor's declarations that from that moment it will need seven years to complete the construction.
On Wednesday, the spokesman for the Ministry of Industry, Tomasz Głogowski, stated that the Polish-Japanese memorandum on broadly understood cooperation in the field of nuclear energy “contrary to reports in some media, does not mean the conclusion of agreements related to the construction of a second nuclear power plant.”
Pursuant to this year's amendment to the Act on Administration Departments, on July 1 this year. The MP took over competences in the field of gas, nuclear power and crude oil from the Ministry of Climate (together with officials). Moreover, among others On November 1, the Ministry of Industry transferred the office of the government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure to the Ministry of Industry, who, in accordance with current regulations, is also to take up one of the positions of deputy ministers.
Main photo source: Travelpixs/Shutterstock