Polish nuclear site contract awarded
WorleyParsons is to carry out site characterisation, licensing and permitting services for Poland's first nuclear power plant, Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA (PGE) has announced.
PGE EJ1, an entity of the Polish state-owned energy group set up to build and run the plant, has awarded PLN 252 million ($81.5 million) the contract to a consortium of WorleyParsons Nuclear Services, WorleyParsons International Inc and WorleyParsons Group Inc following a public tender procedure. PGE EJ1 president Aleksander Grad described the selection of the site characterisation contractor as critical to the project's progress. "Characterisation activities ... will inform one of the most significant decisions, that is the selection of the final site for Poland's first nuclear power plant," he said.
PGE plans to install around 3000 MWe of nuclear capacity, with its first unit coming online by 2025. The site characterisation phase will include over two years of site and environmental surveys, covering a range of issues from geological conditions and the natural environment to logistics and infrastructure. Three potential sites are under consideration: Choczewo, Gaski and Zarnowiec. Work began on four Russian VVER-440 units at Zarnowiec in the 1980s, but the units were cancelled in 1990 and the components sold. No reactor vendor has yet been selected for the current project, although PGE has signed non-exclusive agreements with vendors to investigate EPR, ABWR and ESBWR technology.
In September 2012, four Polish companies - utilities PGE, Tauron Polska Energia and Enea, together with copper giant KGHM Polska Miedz - signed a letter of intent to participate in the project by buying shares in PGE EJ1. The letter was due to expire at the end of 2012, but in late December the group decided to extend it to the end of March 2013.
WorleyParsons is an Australian professional services company serving a range of sectors, including infrastructure and environment, energy and resources. It can lay claim to over fifty years of experience in providing professional engineering services to all phases of the nuclear plant life cycle. Current nuclear projects for the company include providing consultancy services during the pre-construction phase for Turkey's Akkuyu nuclear power plant.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
