Review team calls on Warsaw to fully implement national plan
Poland is making progress in safely managing its radioactive waste and spent fuel management activities, an essential part of its plans to develop nuclear energy, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team has found.
The team highlighted Poland’s commitment to a solid national strategy, while noting that further progress will be needed to fully implement its national plan.
The Integrated Review Service for Radioactive Waste and Spent Fuel Management, Decommissioning and Remediation (Artemis) mission reviewed Poland’s national programme for radioactive waste management, based upon the IAEA safety standards and technical guidance, and international good practices. The 10-day mission was held from 8 to 17 March in Warsaw at the request of the government of Poland.
The team said that in the next update of its national plan, the government should consider presenting a reference collection of assumptions for planning, resourcing and cost estimation relating to radioactive waste and spent fuel management.
It said Warsaw should specify a clear timeframe for deciding whether to introduce very low-level waste — waste suitable for disposal in near-surface landfill facilities under limited regulatory oversight — as an additional class of radioactive waste.
The team added that Radioactive Waste Management Plant (ZUOP) should consider developing the roadmap for establishment of the new near surface disposal facility intended to accommodate operational radioactive waste from nuclear power. ZUOP is the only institution in Poland established to manage radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and is responsible for its safe management.
Poland uses nuclear and radiation technologies across energy, medicine, industry and research sectors. Its nuclear facilities include the Maria research reactor and the decommissioned EWA research reactor.
Spent fuel is stored in dedicated facilities in Swierk in the north of the country. Since the early 1960s, Poland has operated the National Radioactive Waste Repository in the town of Rozan, about 100 km northeast of Warsaw, managed by the ZUOP.
The Polish government approved plans for a nuclear power programme in 2014, aiming to boost energy security and reduce coal dependency as part of its energy policy to 2040.
In the last update of the programme, Poland indicated that the first nuclear power plant operation, featuring three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, is expected in 2036.
In 2023, Poland announced plans to develop a new repository for short-lived low and intermediate level waste from the nuclear power programme as well as future institutional waste and retrieved historical waste from storage at Rozan.
