Infrastruktura - Środowisko - Energia
Dodatek lobbingowy do "RZECZPOSPOLITEJ".
20 listopada 2007 r.

po polsku

The placement of nuclear power station blocks in Europe

There is no shortage of electric power in Europe today. For now, there is no energy shortage at all. Poland's energy supply is in good standing, too. Even though the free market economy in the European Union forces Poland to transfer various costs and we should expect some changes in the price of electricity, at the present stage we do not suffer from power cuts. Nevertheless, everything seems to indicate that the situation may change soon.

The surge in oil prices may result in a dramatic increase of energy prices. We will soon be paying 100 USD per barrel and oil prices will stay on this level for a long time. Countries who lack their own energy ressources run the risk of blackmail by counties who don't. Poland has significant deposits of coal, which is a valuable asset to its economy, but it is a little wasteful to use it in the most primitive way, that is by burning it in furnaces. The price or coal will not stay constant either. Problems with the growing emission of CO₂ will also restrict the supply of energy from traditional sources. Global warming is not a fully understood phenomenon yet and there are different opinions on this topic. Nevertheless, we should not expect that the pressure on limiting greenhouse gases will decrease. The European Union has made some decisions concerning this issue and we can expect others.

In countries like Poland generation of electricity in wind turbines or electrovoltaic solar panels does not look promising. There is too little sunlight and winds are not sufficiently consistent and strong. We also expect rapid economic growth which will be accompanied by increasing energy demand.

One of the most practical forms of energy is electric energy. It is easy to transfer and use with a variety of electric machines. Moreover, connecting the national electric power grids into a European system can prevent temporary shortages. Nevertheless, such a system will not secure any country's long term supply of electric power. Especially that imported electric power is not really inexpensive.

At this moment Poland has no nuclear power stations which are the only type of power stations that produce electricity without the associated CO₂ emissions, whose cost of production is virtually independent of the cost of fuel, which does not take up large labor ressources. You can see it on the attached map. All developed European countries have been using nuclear energy to produce electricity for a long time. A small country like Lithuania can meet most of its energy demand with one large nuclear power plant.

Even though Poland does not have its own nuclear power capacity, we cannot say that the country is not affected by nuclear power stations. There are so many nuclear power stations located in Poland's vicinity that their production would cover 100% of Poland's energy demand, if they only worked for Poland. Our influence on the work of these stations is very limited. All Poland's neighboring countries have their own nuclear power oversight and inspection services. Even though Poland has personnel educated in the area of oversight and inspection of nuclear plants, it has no nuclear power capacity. It is time to join the most developed countries in our region by acquiring the capacity to produce electric power with great flexibility, at low cost (the key costs are related to capital investment in nuclear power stations and the cost of fuel is relatively low), in a reliable, modern, and environment - friendly way. Any possible import of electric power amounts to using energy produced in nuclear power stations anyway. The most important exporters of electricity in Europe are those countries who take advantage of such advanced technologies as nuclear power stations. By opposing nuclear power in our country we will, in a way, provoke our neighbors to develop their own electric power production capacities. They are unlikely to invest in facilities that constitute a burden on the natural environment. Recent trends in electric power generation indicate that additional production capacity will be developed in nuclear power stations. To the neighboring countries, Poland will become a good customer who has to pay for electricity because of its own insufficient production capacity.

The amount of spent fuel, the waste generated in the production of electricity in nuclear power stations, is a fraction of all the waste produced by, for example, coal power stations. Nuclear power stations do not produce much waste. One year's worth of waste generated in one block can be contained in one small room. Moreover, research is currently conducted on possible neutralization of spent fuel in the process of so-called transmutation. Scientists already know how to do it and the technology will be implemented as soon as the economically justified need to do so arises.

Modern nuclear power stations are build in accordance with state-of-the-art technologies. Electricity has been generated in nuclear power stations for the last 50 years and the technologies that are used in these facilities have been thoroughly tested. The development of nuclear technologies has brought about solutions that are so perfect that the laws of physics prevent any kinds of serious breakdowns from occurring. In the nuclear power blocks of the so-called 3+ generation that are currently available for turn-key delivery, human error may only cause damage to the installation and limited material losses, but never a serious breakdown with the release of nuclear material. The nuclear fuel market is gradually becoming organized into an internationally-supervised network. This will protect those countries who do not have their own nuclear fuel production capacity from price and supply fluctuations. Nuclear power stations are very reliable and the international safety requirements for such facilities have and will protect us from serious accidents. So far there have been none. Not a single person has died or been hurt in a nuclear power station in any of the member states of the European Union. Instead, these facilities provide them with inexpensive electricity!

GL