On 10 May 2024 the Minister of Climate and Environment issued the decision-in-principle to Świętokrzyska Grupa Przemysłowa Industria in Kielce for construction of the first nuclear power plant containing Small Modular Reactor in Rolls-Royce SMR technology with spent nuclear fuel storage as the plant’s integral part. The document entitles Industria to apply for further administrative decisions in the process. It is a milestone on Poland’s way to attain required power mix and safety.
Rolls-Royce SMR programme in UK includes 3 new factories, 40,000 British jobs, £ 52 billion benefit, 80% of components built in UK and £ 520 billion export potential. The first Rolls-Royce SMRs in UK are expected to be launched in the first half of 2030s and in Poland around 2037.
In March 2024 Industria and the UK investment fund Chiltern Vital signed a letter of intent on co-operation in development of R-R SMR technology in Poland, including training of Polish specialists, exchange of know-how and development of technology for future low-emission regional industrial parks. The agreement also provides for creation of private financing models to ensure profitability of SMR projects.
Chiltern Vital has been cooperating with public and private partners in key UK energy projects, Western Gateway and Yorkshire Energy Park Solution, developing decarbonisation of industrial parks to attain final usage of nuclear power in R-R technology. In 2025 it plans to open training and R&D centre in Berkeley, where Polish specialists will be trained too.
In April 2024 Industria confirmed discovery of new Uranium ores in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, for which it has been prospecting since 2021. The are in the so-called polymetallic deposits, i.e. containing many metals. Their size, exact composition and potential exploitation methods would be determined in the following months. Uranium was already discovered in Świętokrzyskie Mountains in 1951. Until 1968 ca. 5,000 tons of ore were extracted to provide 3 to 4 tons of pure Uranium transported to the Soviet Union.
