The atom to eliminate fossil fuels: an energy process that Poland has started with South Korea and Japan. The Asian axis with Tokyo and Seoul will allow Warsaw to build new reactors to develop nuclear energy, generating steam and providing heat to petrochemical industries thanks to nuclear power.
A new agreement between the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Poland’s National Center for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) has strengthened the research and development project on high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology, which can deliver steam up to 1,000 degrees Celsius. Thermo-propellers could replace fossil fuels as a heat source for the chemical and petrochemical industries, leading to the decarbonization of various production processes and enabling economical hydrogen production.
Japan has several years of experience in operating the high-temperature test reactor, a prototype 30 MWt graphite-moderated helium gas cooled jet. NCBJ began work on the conceptual design of a high-temperature research reactor in 2021. Last October, however, Seoul and Warsaw signed framework agreements to develop nuclear energy in Poland. The goal is to phase out coal and reduce carbon emissions. South Korea, at the same time, has a good opportunity to revive its nuclear industry in Europe.
Poland’s Ze Pak and Korea hydro & nuclear power will assess the feasibility of building four 1,400-megawatt nuclear reactors in Patnow, central Poland, using South Korean technology. Ze Pak, owned by billionaire Zygmunt Solorz, produces energy primarily from lignite but plans to phase out coal by 2030 to produce energy only from renewable sources.
Since the election of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who pledged to revive the country’s nuclear industry, South Korea has stepped up efforts to obtain export orders for nuclear power plants. The first nuclear power plant in Poland will be built by the US company Westinghouse Electric. Then, once the foundations for the new energy are laid, Japan and South Korea will provide Warsaw with the atom to start the decarbonization process.