New director of the National Centre for Nuclear Research elected

• On March 31, 2025, after 10 years, the permit issued by the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) to operate the Maria nuclear research reactor expired, and it has been offline since April 1.
• According to the Ministry of Industry, there is a very high probability that the Maria reactor will be back in operation in July 2025.
• The thing that has the greatest impact on the schedule for consent to its operation is the issue of NCBJ's preparation of a plant emergency procedure plan.

- Maria is doing well despite press speculation that we are closing the only nuclear reactor in Poland - we are not closing it - said Marzena Czarnecka, Minister of Industry, at a meeting with journalists.

As she explained, the reactor downtime was caused by safety reasons, and the consents must be given by, among others, the Mazovian Voivode and the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration.

- These decisions are in the process of being issued, in the final phase. The National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) expects to allow the reactor to operate in July - declares Marzena Czarnecka.

New director of the National Centre for Nuclear Research

On June 30, the Ministry of Industry presented a new director at the National Center for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) in Otwock-Świerk. The Maria reactor belongs to NCBJ.

Prof. Dr. Hab. Eng. Jakub Kupecki will become the new director of the Center from September 1, 2025. From September 28, 2022 to January 13, 2025, he was the director of the Institute of Energy - National Research Institute (IEN-PIB).

Most recently, Jakub Kupecki was the director of the Hydrogen Technologies Center at the Energy Institute.

As of April 4, 2025, Prof. Krzysztof Kurek, PhD, DSc, Eng. was dismissed from the position of Director of the National Centre for Nuclear Research in Otwock-Świerk.

Minister Marzena Czarnecka justified her decision with the need to improve the functioning of the facility, and in particular to prioritize the operation of the Maria nuclear reactor.

The problem of the company's emergency plan

Let us recall that on March 31, 2025 - after 10 years - the previous permit of the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) to operate the Maria reactor expired.

The new license has not yet been obtained, although the relevant application was submitted on August 20, 2024. At that time, NCBJ submitted an application with 53 attachments - a total of about 1.5 thousand pages of documentation. Since then, the documentation has been supplemented several times.

During the proceedings, in response to PAA's requests, NCBJ received nearly 1,000 questions regarding the submitted documentation. In response, approximately 50 additional attachments were provided.

The nuclear regulator has six months to review the documents, but if it requests additional documents or analyses, this deadline may be extended. This is what happened, and as a result the reactor had to be shut down on April 1.

- The key thing that has the greatest impact on the schedule is the issue of NCBJ preparing a plant emergency plan. In order to prepare such a plan, it is necessary to designate emergency planning zones and distances. These zones and distances result from safety analyses that NCBJ presents to the president of the PAA for approval. And these analyses are the subject of current arrangements - said Paweł Gajda, director of the Department of Nuclear Energy at the Ministry of Industry, in an interview with WNP.

Several years of delays in preparing nuclear documentation

As he explains, only on the basis of approved zones, depending on their range, can a plant emergency procedure plan be prepared. This plan of procedures in the event of emergency situations, as well as the method of cooperation with services. It is also one of the mandatory attachments to the application for a permit to operate the reactor.

- NCBJ did not approve these zones and distances before submitting the application for a permit to operate the reactor. This happened only during the procedure, at a time when it was already quite advanced - and this is a necessary element - added Paweł Gajda.

Elements concerning the designation of impact zones are also approved at the governor level. This is an additional element, which means that the entire procedure will take some time, which is why it cannot be completed within two weeks. After the approval of the size of the impact zones, the plan of the plant emergency procedure plan can be approved, and after the approval of the plan, there will be a path to obtaining permission to operate the reactor.

- In 2019, there was a change in the regulations, resulting from the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which are the aftermath of the accident at the Fukushima power plant. These regulations contain additional requirements regarding the procedure in emergency situations, including the approval of the aforementioned zones. They were introduced in 2019 to Polish nuclear law. Unfortunately, NCBJ did not comply with these requirements earlier, before submitting an application to the PAA for a permit to operate the reactor. Therefore, now these two procedures must be carried out simultaneously, which is why the matter is being delayed - said Paweł Gajda in an interview with WNP.

An ecosystem built around science and numerous competencies

As Jakub Kupecki said, NCBJ is not only the Maria reactor, but also an entire ecosystem created around science and numerous competences. The future director of the Center assessed that we should start thinking today about what kind of successor Maria will need in 20-25 years. We need to construct the entire financing system, documentation, requirements, specifics and think ahead about what functionality of this reactor will be needed in the future - he explained.

Prof. Kupecki added that the HTGR Pola high-temperature reactor project also has a certain chance of being implemented, in parallel with the construction of the research reactor; this project should also be analyzed from the perspective of the business plan. He also announced the establishment of an Economic Council in NCBJ with the participation of various companies.

"The point is to clearly define market needs, for companies to talk about their strategies, their problems, so that we meet real needs," Kupecki said.

Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Wojciech Wrochna emphasized that the development of the Polish nuclear energy program requires the entire scientific and business ecosystem.

"The National Centre for Nuclear Research is the place that will set an example, ideas and support the entire Polish economy and the Polish government in meeting challenges in the nuclear sector," he said.

Reactor Maria may return to operation in July

As Paweł Gajda, director of the nuclear energy department at the Ministry of Industry, informed, the reactor is undergoing modernization, as part of which it will be able to operate for another 20 years. In his opinion, the ageing processes of the reactor cannot currently be precisely predicted and it cannot be clearly stated whether it will operate for another 25, 35 or 45 years.

"This potential plan for a new reactor will also depend on this. We need to start by defining what the exact function of this reactor will be. What goals it will have, whether it will continue to produce isotopes, what research functions, etc.," Gajda pointed out.

As the director pointed out, the aging control plan was a new element of the documentation for the supervision. However, the supervision has already approved the designation of the so-called emergency planning zones and distances. After the approval of the zones, it was possible to complete the Company Emergency Procedure Plan, which was sent for consultation - informed Gajda. After obtaining the opinion of these bodies, it will be possible to complete the procedure here.

"Looking at what stage we are at, there is a very high probability that the reactor will be back in operation in July," he said.