Poland’s oil giant to build country's 1st SMR in 3 years: CEO

Speaking at the 7th Polish Capital Congress on Thursday, Daniel Obajtek, the CEO of Poland’s oil giant, Orlen, said that the company would build the country’s first small modular reactors (SMR) “in three years”.

“MMRs and SMRs are the way of transformation,” Mr Obajtek said. “Large atom is a good step but MMRs and SMRs should be the next step.”

He added that he had spoken with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other representatives of the Polish government about legal regulations that would facilitate the development of atomic energy in Poland.

In early July, Orlen and Synthos Green Energy, a chemical company, as a joint company Orlen Synthos Green Energy, filed a motion calling for a technological evaluation of SMRs to Poland’s State Atomic Agency (PAA).

Also during the Congress, Mr Obajtek stressed the immediacy of new technologies as they offered “security”. He went on to add that “investment processes could not be reversed”.

Poland can be a strong link of resurging supply chains: PM

Also speaking at the Congress, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed that Poland could become a strong link in the resurging supply chains, production and added value. “I think that Poland can benefit from nearshoring, from the post-COVID-19 reconstruction of supply chains,” he said.

The official saw it as “a great opportunity.”

“For it to happen, we must decisively join global trends – the trends of modern capitalism.”

He noted that Poland was attracting the best companies and technologies, which in turn engaged small and medium enterprises allowing them to grow and develop.

The PM stressed although Poland was faced with a period of great threats, chances for the Polish economy would also come to the fore. He also said that the threats “are, in principle, exogenic, external and independent of us.” Among such threats, he named inflation, high energy prices and the war in Ukraine.