KGHM categorically denies media reports which allege that cooperation with the company NuScale has been terminated

KGHM categorically denies media reports which allege that cooperation with the company NuScale has been terminated. This American company has not terminated its agreement with the copper company. KGHM is continuing to advance its plans related to SMRs, and asks that only accurate information be distributed on investments which are of vital importance for Poland’s energy security.

As regards announcements on the subject of the American company in question and the future of the project to build small modular nuclear reactors, KGHM hereby provides the following information:

On 13 April 2023, KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. applied to the Ministry of Climate and Environment for the issuance of a basic decision, i.e. the first administrative decision in the system of permits that an investor investing in the construction of a nuclear power plant may apply for. In the aforementioned application, KGHM indicated the following light water reactor technologies which could be used in KGHM’s planned investment: Rolls-Royce SMR™ (UK SMR™), NUWARD™, SMR-160™, BWRX-300™ and VOYGR™.

The technology offered by the company NuScale Power, LLC was identified by KGHM – solely for the purpose of preparing the application – as a „preferred” technology given the substantial progress in the certification process of this technology by the American Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the United States. It should be noted that KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., as the second investor in nuclear power and as the first investor planning to build a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) in Poland, received on 13 July 2023 from the Ministry of Climate and Environment a basic decision which comprises all the proposed reactor technologies indicated by KGHM in its application.

We also wish to emphasise that KGHM is currently focused on the most proven constructions, i.e. on pressurized light water reactors (which, in comparison to boiling water reactors, are characterized by a lack of negative experience in terms of safety), which substantially simplifies and shortens design work. The approach being followed by KGHM strictly corresponds to the position of the Polish Council of Ministers as expressed in the Polish Nuclear Energy Program.

KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., taking into consideration the guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris, intends to select the best reactor technology for its SMR project (in terms of economics, the environment and safety) in accordance with best global standards, while at the same time adhering to the principles of transparency and competitiveness. In light of the above, the termination of the project to build a VOYGR-6™ nuclear power plant in the United States under the Carbon Free Power Project has no material impact on the SMR nuclear project being advanced at this stage by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., regardless of the supplier of the technology and without reservation of exclusivity. The preliminary agreement entered into with NuScale Power, LLC on 14 February 2022 provided KGHM with access to technical data of the supplier of the technology, which was needed, among others, to initiate the process of selecting a target reactor technology.