Orlen Synthos Green Energy (OSGE) will receive funding from the US Department of State to accelerate a project to build small nuclear reactors (SMRs) in Poland, the US President’s Special Envoy for Climate Issues John Kerry announced during the Trilateral Initiative Summit in Bucharest.

The support will come from the US ‘Phoenix’ project, which aims to support the development of SMRs in Central Europe, in particular projects to build small nuclear reactors in conventional energy locations. Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will receive funding under the programme. Kerry did not specify amounts of support.

‘We will financially support feasibility studies because we want to help lead the energy transition from coal to SMRs. We take the role of nuclear energy in the energy transition very seriously. We are all aware that zero emissions cannot be achieved without it. This is the great challenge facing humanity”, the US presidential envoy said in Bucharest.

Poland’s energy transition should be based on US nuclear technology, in particular the proven BWRX-300 technology developed by GE Hitachi. ‘With our inclusion in the Phoenix Project, we can significantly accelerate our activities’, assessed OSGE President Rafał Kasprów. Support from the US would first be allocated to the Ostrołęka nuclear power plant project.

“Phoenix” is a US government initiative to support the transition in Europe from fossil fuel-based power generation to SMR reactors while preserving local jobs by retraining workers.

The project allows direct financial support from the US government to develop feasibility studies for selected SMR technologies. Funding can also be provided to support the energy security goals of Central and Eastern European countries.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński