Should Poland return to nuclear power?

DW (English)

Most people in Poland support the country's plans to build three nuclear reactors. But key questions remains, like how much all this will cost and where to safely store radioactive waste.

Transcript

00:00How about building a nuclear power plant right here, on Poland's Baltic sea coast,

00:05between the forest, dunes and water? A joke? No, Poland is serious.

00:10Authorities have cleared the site and begun construction.

00:15We assure this is a good choice.

00:18The state secretary in charge is delighted.

00:22I think these nuclear ambitions are total nonsense.

00:28Argues this environmentalist from Botyckie SOS.

00:32The plant is slated to produce nuclear power in record time, within 10 years.

00:37Official figures put the cost at about 45 billion euros.

00:43The NGO Botyckie SOS turned up as soon as plans were made public three years ago.

00:53I think nuclear power is already out of date.

00:57There are other, more modern methods, using renewable energy sources,

01:02and a lot of progress has been made.

01:06This coast features the longest stretch of uninterrupted forest.

01:11It's 24 kilometers long.

01:15Now they've decided to just cut it in half and destroy it.

01:23The main reason Poland has drafted plans to use nuclear power

01:26is that the country wants to stop using coal.

01:31In 2024, well over half of the country's electricity

01:35was generated by coal-fired power plants.

01:40This has had terrible consequences for the environment.

01:47All analyses available to us indicate the following.

01:52Nuclear energy is unavoidable in Poland's energy mix,

01:55if we want to guarantee energy security.

02:01But the issue is a political hot potato.

02:04It was the right-wing populist law and justice government

02:07that launched the nuclear plan three years ago.

02:11But today, the party is putting up anti-nuclear posters.

02:16Not far from the construction site lies the small town of Hocewo,

02:20which seems to be evenly split between those for and against nuclear power.

02:26If they shut down the coal-fired power plants,

02:28what will we use for heating?

02:30We'll be stuck hungry and freezing.

02:34We have small children, so we're against it.

02:37I'm not sure it won't be harmful to all of us.

02:41We should concentrate on the development of the region

02:44and not focus on a few trivial problems.

02:50Poland built a Soviet-style nuclear power plant decades ago.

02:54Abandoned after protests and the demise of the Soviet Union,

02:57the project's ruins remain.

03:00Other European states, Germany and Spain for instance,

03:04have said goodbye to nuclear energy, as has Italy,

03:07though it now wants to go back to it after 35 years.

03:12When it comes to nuclear energy,

03:14Poland joins Turkey as a European newcomer.

03:17Siblings Józef and Zosia Kosiorog used to be against nuclear energy,

03:21but they've changed their minds.

03:25What else do we have?

03:28Coal isn't allowed, gas isn't allowed.

03:33Where will the electricity come from?

03:36Their view is shared by many fellow Poles.

03:39Surveys say over 90% are in favour of building nuclear power plants,

03:44yet many questions remain unanswered,

03:46such as where to put the radioactive waste.

03:52In global terms, the amount of nuclear waste we will have to store

03:55in the long term is really minimal.

04:01I'm firmly convinced we'll find a repository

04:04where we can store the waste safely.

04:09In Poland?

04:11Most likely, yes.

04:13The plans are ambitious.

04:15Poland has no experience with nuclear energy.

04:19The activists from Botice SOS

04:21suspect that its advocates are underestimating the challenges.

04:28We're predicting this nuclear power plant

04:30will cost much more than has been said so far,

04:33and that it won't take 10 years to build,

04:36more likely 20, in the worst-case scenario even longer.

04:41Their somewhat cynical take?

04:43At least it means they'll be able to enjoy their beach a little longer.

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