Nuclear energy in Poland – a source of energy for future?

Introduction

The necessity of establishing nuclear energy seems to be a political consensus in Poland, regardless of the general orientation of main political parties. The decision to build new nuclear power plants has been made and now the Polish government takes steps to implement the plan.

Taking into account the fact that the Polish society is very unclear about its position towards building nuclear power plants, the government announced a huge information and education campaign. Although the official campaign has not started yet, the public discussion has been already going on for months. The pro-nuclear energy position is dominating in the public debate. Politicians, members of nuclear energy institutes and also the media, astonishing as it might be, try to convince the society that the development of the nuclear energy is actually the only possible way of modernizing the Polish energy policy, especially in the context of the challenges related to the climate protection. Opposing positions are rare and alternatives for nuclear energy, for example renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, are presented as inadequate.

Against the background of the above mentioned, we would like to introduce to you articles written by Polish experts which concern different aspects and consequences of establishing nuclear energy in Poland. Is nuclear power the only solution for Poland?

An Analysis of the National Nuclear Power Programme

It is worthwhile to try and provide a discussion of the National Nuclear Power Programme in a manner that makes them accessible to the general public, so that it can be used as a sort of “terms of reference” for the project currently being developed by the government, or rather by the State Commissioner for Nuclear Power. In particular, this analysis concerns the economic aspects of introducing nuclear power to Poland. Prof. Krzysztof Żmijewski more»

Nuclear power program in Poland

The Polish government has undertaken the nuclear power program, which aims at the construction of at least three nuclear power units before 2030. However, large costs of nuclear power stations and the associated costs of the transmission system upgrade to accommodate the electricity produced by large nuclear units rise doubts if such a program can be implemented in accordance to the time table and whether the Polish energy users can with stand very high electricity prices. Prof. dr hab. inż. Władysław Mielczarski more»

Pro-nuclear propaganda with no counter-arguments

March 9, 2010 - The sustainable development of our country is being decided today, and the choice of energy supply is a determining factor. A real threat exists that we will commit to a technology which is past its peak, and faces a future of neverending unresolved problems. Abandoning the construction of nuclear power stations in Poland could accelerate our country’s entry into the truly modern current of developing an economy that uses alternative energy sources. Radosław Gawlik more»

Poland and the challenges of the climate package

Poland now faces a major challenge. Considering the near-disintegration of the energy generating infrastructure and the very bad condition of power transmission lines, the absence of an active energy policy could lead to catastrophe in the energy sector within the next decade – mass black-outs and power switch-offs, energy shortages in the network, the stifling of the development of innovative sectors of the economy needing stable voltage in the power network and secure energy supplies. On top of this, the energy sector, already in a difficult situation, will have to invest in pursuing the aims of the climate package. The development of nuclear energy in Poland will not prevent the breakdown of the Polish energy sector in the second decade of the 21st century and will not solve problems connected with the implementation of the climate package. Dr hab. Zbigniew M. Karaczun more»

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