At the invitation of Senator Stanisław Gawłowski, chairman of the Committee on Climate and Environment of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Dr Dagmara Strumińska-Parulska, Professor UG from the Laboratory of Toxicology and Radiological Protection of the Faculty of Chemistry, UG, took part in the conference ‘Atom, climate, energy security’ organised on 18 October 2024 in the Senate of the Republic of Poland.
The conference focused on the future of energy in Poland, with a particular emphasis on the role of nuclear power. Experts discussed the need for energy transition and how the atom can contribute to providing Poland with stable and clean energy sources.
“In view of the challenges we face, we have no other way, as soon as the construction of the nuclear power plant in Choczewo begins, new projects and the search for other locations must begin,” said senator Stanisław Gawłowski. As he pointed out, we are forced to take up the nuclear issue because of climate change, which is forcing us to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and, above all, the need to ensure energy security and reduce energy prices in our country, which are among the highest in Europe.
Dagmara Strumińska-Parulska, PhD, DSc, Prof UG, took part in the second part of the conference devoted to the transformation and decarbonisation of the Polish energy system in the context of the atom. Other speakers on the panel included Prof. Adam Kisiel of the Warsaw University of Technology, Prof. Łukasz Bartela of the Silesian University of Technology and Prof. Janusz Wojtkowiak of the Poznań University of Technology.
“Typical renewable energy sources are unfortunately not enough for us. Nuclear energy sensu stricto does not need renewable energy sources, whereas we do if we want to obtain energy in a process where the amount of waste will be as low as possible,” explained the professor from the University of Gdańsk. “When aiming for low-carbon, we should look primarily at independence and diversification. Independence gives us the atom. Diversity, i.e. the least impact on the environment – renewable energy sources. Atom should be at the heart of energy generation.”
According to the researcher, the extinction of the idea of building nuclear power plants in the past has left us with a gap the size of a generation when it comes to nuclear education.
“Nuclear power is not just about ionising radiation. We have a number of other dependencies that we need to resolve. It is a question, for example, of building schools, hospitals, clinics, roads, railways. However, nuclear power is still primarily associated with ionising radiation. We have a shortage of competent staff in this area. Just a few years ago, you could count the number of centres that dealt with radiation on the fingers of one hand,” – she pointed out.
According to Dagmara Strumińska-Parulska, a course in nuclear safety and radiation protection has been in operation at the University of Gdańsk for ten years. “It is only in the last few years, when interest in nuclear energy has increased, that we have heard that everyone is starting to learn nuclear energy. However, there is still a very high demand for experts with the right background to educate about the atom. The problem is that we are talking about secondary and higher education, at a time when, our children should have long since lived with the idea that nuclear power simply is – it is nothing new or scary.”
For more information on the Conference: Senat Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
Video recording of the Conference: Konferencja „Atom, klimat, bezpieczeństwo energetyczne”