A survey commissioned by the Ministry of Industry shows that 92.5% of Poles support the construction of nuclear power plants in Poland. 79.6% of respondents would agree to such a power plant being built near their place of residence, and 90.3% of Poles believe that the construction of a nuclear power plant, as a low-carbon source of energy generation, is a good way to combat climate change. Meanwhile, 94.2% believe that building a nuclear power plant in Poland will contribute to the country’s energy security.
But nuclear power also means lower energy costs for industry and an opportunity for many Silesian companies. It is worth mentioning that in the last 10 years almost 80 Polish companies have been directly involved in construction, assembly, service or production of components for power plants, research and development reactors and other nuclear facilities (e.g. nuclear fuel production plants). More than 250 other companies have sufficient technical and organizational potential to enter the supply chains of the civil nuclear power industry with certain investment expenditures. It is worth noting that Polish companies have worked in all segments of this market, i.e. construction, repair and modernization, as well as decommissioning of nuclear facilities – not only in European countries, but also in Asia (China, India, Japan), the Middle East (Turkey and Egypt), the USA, Canada or Mexico.
This is important because the Polish nuclear power program explicitly states that local content should be 40%.
The cyclically published report “Polish Nuclear Industry” also includes companies from our region. These include Mostostal Zabrze, Energoprojekt-Katowice, Carboautomatics from Tychy, Ecol and Doosan Polska from Rybnik, Central Boiler Production Office from Tarnowskie Góry, Energopomiar from Gliwice, and Dąbrowa Damel Electric Machinery Factory[1].
In November, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe reported that the US company Westinghouse, which will build Poland’s first nuclear power plant in Lubiatów, has already awarded contracts to Polish companies. The orders went to ZKS Ferrum in Katowice and Famak in Kluczbork, among others[2].
[1] https://www.slazag.pl/firmy-z-krainy-wegla-i-stali-nie-boja-sie-atomowych-projektow-na-razie-poza-polska.
[2] https://businessinsider.com.pl/wiadomosci/firma-z-usa-inwestuje-w-polsce/q8bz2nx.
