NATO member announces $16 billion investment in its first nuclear power plant

The Polish government will invest almost $16 billion in building the first nuclear power plant in the Eastern European country.

The announcement follows reports that the country intends to ask the European Commission to approve its plan to finance the plant (state aid granted to companies by member states must comply with European Union rules on fair competition).

“This week I will sign an official application to the European Commission, thereby starting the notification process,” said Maciej Bando, deputy climate minister responsible for strategic energy infrastructure, earlier this month.

According to an official press release, the project is being implemented by the Polish Nuclear Power Plants (PEJ), a company owned by the State Treasury, in the Choczewo commune in Pomerania.

The construction is also being carried out by American companies Bechtel and Westinghouse Electric Company. Bechtel is reportedly designing and building the plant, as well as supplying three AP1000 pressurized water reactors in cooperation with Westinghouse.

“Energy security is national security. The United States is proud to be Poland’s closest partner and most trusted friend in the clean energy transition,” said Mark Brzezinski, U.S. Ambassador to Poland.

“Poland’s selection of Westinghouse and Bechtel – two gold standard American companies – to implement its national nuclear power program places energy security at the center of our cooperation.”

Earlier this year, Bechtel signed agreements with the Gdańsk University of Technology and the Warsaw University of Technology to launch professional development programs in the field of nuclear power. The goal is to prepare staff for work in the growing nuclear power industry in Poland.

The U.S. Department of Energy also established a regional training center for clean energy technologies in Warsaw.

Craig Albert, Bechtel’s president and chief operating officer, said the “historic” project “will strengthen (Poland’s) energy independence while creating enormous economic opportunities, including new jobs, training a skilled workforce in nuclear power and establishing a supply chain with significant participation from Polish companies.”

Newsweek reached out to Bechtel for comment via an online contact form and to Polish authorities via email.

There are currently four AP1000 reactors in operation in China, with eight more under construction. Bechtel says there will be 18 AP1000-based nuclear power plants operating worldwide by the end of the decade, and the technology is being considered in several locations around the world, including the United Kingdom, India and North America.

“With the AP1000 project, Poland has selected the most advanced and proven technology, which is already setting operational records with six operational units and 12 more planned by the end of the decade,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse president and CEO.

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