The judgement will give OSGE the authority to submit applications for a number of additional administrative judgements, such as siting judgements and, construction permits.
Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) has requested a decision-in-principle from the Polish Ministry of Climate regarding the development of power plants based on the BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) from GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy at six different locations.
The decision-in-principle will formally attest that the investment in the plant is consistent with the general welfare and state policies, including energy policy. The judgement will also give OSGE the authority to submit applications for a number of additional administrative judgements, such as siting judgements and, later, construction permits.
To host SMR plants based on GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300, for which it holds the exclusive right in Poland, OSGE announced on April 17 that it had shortlisted seven locations in Poland for additional geological surveys.
The company claimed that after considering “tens” of potential sites in Poland, it had chosen the seven locations.
The places where the events took place were Ostroka, Wroclaw, Stawy Monowskie, Dbrowa Górnicza, Nowa Huta, Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone, and Warsaw. According to the company, these include areas with “high energy-intensive production plants, as well as locations that are ideal for heating system purposes.” Warsaw is not on the list of locations for which OSGE has currently requested decisions-in-principle.
A letter of intent was signed in December 2021 by GE Hitachi, BWXT Canada, and Synthos Green Energy (SGE) to work together on the deployment of BWRX-300 SMRs in Poland.
On July 8 of last year, Orlen Synthos Green Energy, a partnership between the chemical manufacturers SGE and PKN Orlen, submitted a request to Poland’s National Atomic Energy Agency for the evaluation of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300.
In a flurry of applications for decisions-in-principle for nuclear power plants in Poland, OSGE’s is the most recent. Producer of copper and silver KGHM Polska Mied SA applied for a decision-in-principle on the development of a NuScale VOYGR SMR power plant in Poland on April 14.
Three days later, Polskie Elektrownie Jdrowe submitted a request for a decision-in-principle on the development of the nation’s first sizable nuclear power plant, which would be located at either Lubiatowo or Kopalino in the Polish municipality of Choczewo in the province of Pomerania. The AP1000 reactor technology from Westinghouse would be the foundation of the plant.