Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation in the Field of Nuclear Power
Strengthening cooperation in the nuclear power sector was one of the main topics of the E23: PL for UA “Polish-Ukrainian partnership in building the energy security of the future” conference held on 15 March in Warsaw. The event brought together the representatives of the governments of the two countries and representatives of major companies responsible for strategic energy infrastructure.
The conference was held under the honorary patronage of the Prime Minister of the Government, Mateusz Morawiecki, and of the Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, Mateusz Berger.
In the context of accelerating efforts to build the first nuclear power plant in Poland, the participants discussed, among other things, how the vast experience of Ukraine, which has been developing the nuclear power sector for years, can be used in Poland.
- Ukraine has years of experience in developing and operating nuclear facilities. Before the war, 15 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) were operated in 4 nuclear power plants with a total capacity of above 13 GWe. This makes our neighbor a natural partner for both Poland and Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe in terms of exchanging experience and developing our national competence in the area of nuclear investment projects, said Łukasz Młynarkiewicz, Vice-President of Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe.
Nuclear power is one of the fields in which Polish-Ukrainian exchange of experience may be of mutual benefit. Therefore, the conference also provided an occasion to hold a discussion on the details of close cooperation between Poland and Ukraine in this regard. Apart from Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, the Polish participants included representatives of the Nuclear Energy Department of the Ministry of Climate and Environment and representatives of the National Atomic Energy Agency, while the Ukrainian participants included representatives of the operator of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, i.e. Energoatom, and of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU).
The topics discussed and potential areas of cooperation included the possibilities of Polish-Ukrainian industrial cooperation for the needs of the nuclear power sector in our country, experience in the management of contracts with external companies, and Ukraine’s lessons learned regarding the operational stage of the nuclear power plants. Issues related to procurement and management of nuclear fuel and to external events that need to be taken into account in assessments and studies of the safety of nuclear power plants were also discussed.