The initiative was unveiled in Warsaw on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The government, state-run energy giant PKN Orlen and Poland’s main technical universities signed a letter of intent on launching academic instruction and research in nuclear engineering, according to officials.
The document was approved by Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek, PKN Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek, as well as the heads of universities from Warsaw, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Poznań and Wrocław, the PAP news agency reported.
Czarnek told the media: “The world of science must support businesses, entrepreneurs and the economy. That’s why we have signed this letter of intent on the creation or reinstatement of degree programmes in nuclear energy.”
The education minister added: “We’ll create a programme of research in nuclear energy. We want Polish scientists to pursue this topic.”
“This is to ensure that modernity becomes reality already today,” Czarnek also said.
Meanwhile, PKN Orlen’s Obajtek said that science and business must be “in lockstep with each other” to make sure that energy transition succeeds, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Obajtek added: “Without cooperation, without educating staff through degree programmes in energy, chemistry and engineering, we are unable to accomplish these goals. We must rely on Polish universities that have experience.”
The new degree programme is set to be launched from the next academic year, officials told reporters.
Poland to build nuclear power plants
Last November, Poland approved plans to build its first nuclear power plant using technology from US company Westinghouse Nuclear.
The USD 20 billion plant will be built "in the north of the country," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference at the time.
Morawiecki announced that the government had also greenlighted a Polish-South Korean project to build a nuclear power plant at Pątnów in western Poland.
Poland's state-run Energy Group (PGE) and energy producer ZE PAK in November signed a letter of intent with South Korea’s state-owned energy company KHNP on developing plans for the construction of that facility, according to officials.
The Polish foreign minister said in November that the choice of a foreign partner for the construction of Poland’s third planned nuclear power plant remained "open."
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said the country plans to build a total of “six reactors in three nuclear power plants.”
The first unit of a new Polish nuclear power plant is expected to be put into operation in 2033, under a long-term energy policy adopted by the government in 2021.
Then further units are expected to come online every two to three years until a total of six, with a combined capacity of up to 9 GW, are in service, the PAP news agency has reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.