On Tuesday, June 20, a resolution was adopted on a multi-year program called "Program for the modernization of the MARIA nuclear research reactor". The cost of the project will be approximately PLN 91.7 million and will allow the reactor to be operated after 2027. Thanks to the reactor, Poland is at the forefront of the global radiopharmaceutical sector, covering the vast majority of the needs of nuclear medicine in Poland, as well as exporting its products around the world. Radioisotopes produced in the reactor provide Poles with access to cancer imaging and treatment at prices lower than foreign alternatives.

The MARIA reactor is currently the only and unique research device of this type in Poland and in the world, with significant importance for public health (as a manufacturer of radiopharmaceuticals), economy and science. After over 40 years of operation of the reactor, almost all technological systems require modernization, including those necessary to enhance its safe operation. Approximately 17 million people around the world use products based on radioisotopes produced in the MARIA reactor. According to the estimates of a national consultant in the field of nuclear medicine, 380,000 procedures are performed in Poland every year. nuclear medicine procedures.

The most important solutions of the program:

     The MARIA reactor will be modernized so that it can operate at least until 2050.
     The reactor modernization will cover the years 2023–2027. The cost of the project will be approximately PLN 91.7 million.
     The modernization was divided into 5 main thematic areas:
     - electricity supply systems,
     - control and security systems,
     - ventilation system,
     - dosimetric systems,
     - other modernizations (including technological facilities, emergency warning system and fan cooling tower).
     The contractor for the modernization program will be the National Center for Nuclear Research.

Source: Chancellery of the Prime Minister