Poland to build nuclear plant: energy minister

WARSAW, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Poland is moving forward with plans to build its first nuclear power plant, Polish Press Agency (PAP) quoted energy minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski as reporting on Thursday.

"Poland will build a nuclear plant - it is my view and I do uphold it. We are quite close to creating a financial model," the energy minister told a press conference.

Tchorzewski expressed hope that the construction of the first bloc would start while he is "still at the ministry."

Poland needs to invest in a zero-emission energy source to balance out the coal-based power plants that the country wants to continue using as its main source of energy, he added.

In early September, Tchorzewski told PAP that the construction of three nuclear power units by 2040 would cost about 75 billion zloty (22 billion U.S. dollars). The first unit could be launched around 2030 if the decision to build the facility was made right away.

The decision whether to build the nuclear power plant will be made by the Polish government. In a survey conducted by the energy ministry, 59 percent of the respondents supported construction of the nuclear energy facility, while 35 percent were against. (1 U.S. dollar = 3.40 Polish zloty) Enditem