Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
Artist rendition of a GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 reactor. For each nation considering this model, the company changes the flag in the rendition. GE-Hitachi
World Nuclear News (WNN) reported on Dec. 8 that Poland, which is currently heavily reliant on coal power generation, will be building reactors literally by the dozen.
“Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has issued decisions-in-principle for the construction of power plants based on GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at six locations. A total of 24 BWRX-300 reactors are planned at the sites,” WNN said.
“The decision-in-principle is the first decision in the process of administrative permits for investments in nuclear power facilities in Poland that an investor may apply for. Obtaining it entitles OSGE to apply for a number of further administrative arrangements, such as a siting decision or construction licence.”
The design is the same 300 megawatt model that Ontario Power Generation is currently building the prototype for, and that SaskPower has chosen for this province’s first SMRs. While OPG has since announced an expansion of its plans to four SMRs of that design, Saskatchewan’s plans have become more nebulous in time.
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When first announced in early 2022, then-Crown Investments Corp. and SaskPower Minister Don Morgan indicated up to four reactors were planned. But more recently, the actual number for Saskatchewan seems to be in flux. In August, Morgan spoke of the possibility of up to nine reactors, but Premier Scott Moe a few days later indicated we’re not sure yet, and that Saskatchewan could end up building large reactors in the 1,000 megawatt range. In his year-end interview with Pipeline Online on Dec. 18, Moe discussed this in more detail, indicating that for both SMRs and large reactors, there’s strong reasons to build them in pairs.
As for Poland, “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. OSGE – 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 the reactor design,” WNN said.
Large nuclear, too (and two)
On top of that, on Nov. 27, WNN reported that a second large Polish nuclear plant has been approved. “Poland’s Ministry of Climate and Environment has issued a decision-in-principle for the country’s second large nuclear power plant. Two South Korean-supplied APR1400 reactors are planned in the Patnów-Konin region.”
Six reactors of this design are already operational in Korea and UAE, with another six under construction or commissioning.
This is not to be confused with the AP1000 model, a design made by Westinghouse. Westinghouse, in turn, is now 49 per cent owned by Saskatoon-based Cameco.
And that design, the Westinghouse AP1000, has been chosen for Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky Unit 5, according to WNN on Dec. 19, with discussions about the possibility of a total of nine AP1000 units for the currently war-torn country. Its largest nuclear plant, with six reactors, is currently under Russian occupation and control.
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