Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) has requested an opinion from the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) on the correctness of the classification of the circulating water system (CWS) as having no impact on the nuclear safety of a power plant based on AP1000 reactors. This is crucial for further timely delivery of work according to the investment schedule.
PEJ, along with its application for an opinion regarding the circulating water system, submitted documentation to the PAA enabling assessment of the correctness of this classification. ‘Safety comes first to us. At the same time, as the investor, we endeavor to keep the project on schedule. Close dialogue with the PAA and development of optimal solutions are crucial for smooth and safe delivery of this project of strategic importance to Poland,’ said Leszek Juchniewicz, President of the Management Board of Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe.
In the said application, PEJ requested the PAA President to issue an opinion on the correctness of the classification of the CWS as a system, structural element, or equipment of a nuclear facility that does not affect nuclear safety (is not safety-related). Such confirmation would make it possible to classify the system correctly in terms of nuclear safety and radiological protection, and thus properly prepare the safety classification documentation for the system. According to PEJ, the classification of the circulating water system as non-safety related is made possible by the use of passive systems in Poland’s first nuclear power plant, based on the AP1000 reactor technology of the American company Westinghouse. ’A reactor of this type can, if necessary, be cooled for 72 hours without electricity and without human intervention – this safety feature distinguishes it positively from most types of reactors currently operating in the world,’ explained Leszek Juchniewicz.
This is PEJ’s third application for the PAA President’s opinion. The first opinion concerned the scope and level of detail of independent verification of safety analyses for the nuclear power plant in the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site, and the Company obtained it in June 2023. The second one, which enabled the assessment of the presented methodology of the safety systems classification, was obtained in August 2024.
