Following Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fąfara’s announcement that two SMR reactors are to be built by 2035, Daniel Obajtek spoke out online. “We would have delivered them no later than 2030,” he counters his successor. On large-scale nuclear, he adds: “They’re building it in such a way that they will never finish it.”
Orlen’s CEO, Ireneusz Fąfara, expressed his belief that “by the end of summer” it will be possible to reach an agreement with Synthos on the joint construction of SMR reactors. He declared that Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s commitment that a decision on the joint Orlen-Synthos nuclear project would be made by the end of summer will be kept.
“We believe in SMR technology. The agreement with Synthos has not yet been concluded, despite earlier announcements that it would be finalized by the end of 2024. Issues have arisen concerning access to technology and payments for that access. Financial matters came up, and so negotiations are taking longer,” Fąfara explained.
He emphasized that the project is moving forward without delays, and the plan remains to launch at least two reactors by 2035. “And I hope it will happen sooner,” he stressed.
Former Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek responded to these remarks.
“At today’s Orlen conference, we heard that two reactors will be built by 2035. We would have delivered them no later than 2030,”
he wrote on X.
He accused the current government that “during two years of Tusk’s team, the project practically stood still.”
On small reactors, he said: “They can be installed and built close to cities, or even within cities, since the safety zone is about 400 meters.”
In a video statement, he asked what is happening with large-scale nuclear.
“They are building it in such a way that it will never be completed. Before long, the state will not be able to subsidize electricity prices. Only then will you have expensive power,”
Obajtek warned.
SMRs, or Small Modular Reactors, are advanced nuclear reactors with a capacity of up to 300 MWe, manufactured in factories and assembled at the operating site. They are smaller than traditional reactors and feature modularity, allowing for flexible capacity expansion depending on demand.