00:00How about building a nuclear power plant right here, on Poland's Baltic sea coast,
00:05between the forest, dunes and water? A joke? No, Poland is serious.
00:10Authorities have cleared the site and begun construction.
00:15We assure this is a good choice.
00:18The state secretary in charge is delighted.
00:22I think these nuclear ambitions are total nonsense.
00:28Argues this environmentalist from Botyckie SOS.
00:32The plant is slated to produce nuclear power in record time, within 10 years.
00:37Official figures put the cost at about 45 billion euros.
00:43The NGO Botyckie SOS turned up as soon as plans were made public three years ago.
00:53I think nuclear power is already out of date.
00:57There are other, more modern methods, using renewable energy sources,
01:02and a lot of progress has been made.
01:06This coast features the longest stretch of uninterrupted forest.
01:11It's 24 kilometers long.
01:15Now they've decided to just cut it in half and destroy it.
01:23The main reason Poland has drafted plans to use nuclear power
01:26is that the country wants to stop using coal.
01:31In 2024, well over half of the country's electricity
01:35was generated by coal-fired power plants.
01:40This has had terrible consequences for the environment.
01:47All analyses available to us indicate the following.
01:52Nuclear energy is unavoidable in Poland's energy mix,
01:55if we want to guarantee energy security.
02:01But the issue is a political hot potato.
02:04It was the right-wing populist law and justice government
02:07that launched the nuclear plan three years ago.
02:11But today, the party is putting up anti-nuclear posters.
02:16Not far from the construction site lies the small town of Hocewo,
02:20which seems to be evenly split between those for and against nuclear power.
02:26If they shut down the coal-fired power plants,
02:28what will we use for heating?
02:30We'll be stuck hungry and freezing.
02:34We have small children, so we're against it.
02:37I'm not sure it won't be harmful to all of us.
02:41We should concentrate on the development of the region
02:44and not focus on a few trivial problems.
02:50Poland built a Soviet-style nuclear power plant decades ago.
02:54Abandoned after protests and the demise of the Soviet Union,
02:57the project's ruins remain.
03:00Other European states, Germany and Spain for instance,
03:04have said goodbye to nuclear energy, as has Italy,
03:07though it now wants to go back to it after 35 years.
03:12When it comes to nuclear energy,
03:14Poland joins Turkey as a European newcomer.
03:17Siblings JĂłzef and Zosia Kosiorog used to be against nuclear energy,
03:21but they've changed their minds.
03:25What else do we have?
03:28Coal isn't allowed, gas isn't allowed.
03:33Where will the electricity come from?
03:36Their view is shared by many fellow Poles.
03:39Surveys say over 90% are in favour of building nuclear power plants,
03:44yet many questions remain unanswered,
03:46such as where to put the radioactive waste.
03:52In global terms, the amount of nuclear waste we will have to store
03:55in the long term is really minimal.
04:01I'm firmly convinced we'll find a repository
04:04where we can store the waste safely.
04:09In Poland?
04:11Most likely, yes.
04:13The plans are ambitious.
04:15Poland has no experience with nuclear energy.
04:19The activists from Botice SOS
04:21suspect that its advocates are underestimating the challenges.
04:28We're predicting this nuclear power plant
04:30will cost much more than has been said so far,
04:33and that it won't take 10 years to build,
04:36more likely 20, in the worst-case scenario even longer.
04:41Their somewhat cynical take?
04:43At least it means they'll be able to enjoy their beach a little longer.
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