Industry leaders gather to reaffirm commitment to project and community as Polish government announces funding
Warsaw, Poland, September 23, 2024 —Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel welcome the intention of the Polish government to allocate 60 billion zloty to fund the country’s first nuclear power plant.
Westinghouse President and CEO Patrick Fragman shakes hands with President Andrzej Duda as Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security (NNSA) Jill Hruby looks on during a summit in Warsaw, Poland, Sept. 12, 2024.
The announcement came as the partners met with key stakeholders in Warsaw and Gdansk to showcase project progress and reaffirm their commitments to economic development and community engagement. In Gdansk, local authorities were briefed on the latest project milestones, including in-depth geological surveys underway at the construction site that provide critical data to advance project planning. The project is being implemented by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), a company owned by the Polish state, at the Choczewo commune site in Pomerania.
“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 advance the country’s civil nuclear power program brings energy security to the core of our collaboration.”
“With the AP1000® design, Poland has selected the most advanced, proven technology already setting operational records in six operational units with another 12 planned to operate before the end of the decade,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse President and CEO. “This project will drive more than 100 billion zloty of economic impact in Poland, creating tens of thousands of jobs during construction and the many decades of operation to come.”
“This historic project will strengthen the country’s energy independence while also creating enormous economic opportunity, including new jobs, the training of a skilled nuclear power workforce, and the establishment of a supply chain with substantial participation by Polish companies,” said Craig Albert, Bechtel President and COO.
Westinghouse President and CEO Patrick Fragman looks on as Polish President Andrzej Duda addresses leaders gathered in Warsaw, Poland, Sept. 12, 2024, to discuss the progress on Poland’s first nuclear power plant.
Together, Westinghouse and Bechtel bring more than 140 years of nuclear power experience to the Poland deployment and the only proven model for nuclear supply chain localization. Bechtel and the Polish Chamber of Power Industry and Environmental Protection (IGEOS) recently organized supplier symposia in Gdansk and Gdynia, attracting more than 150 companies in the region. Westinghouse has engaged with more than 500 companies for the project and hosts an annual internship program for Polish students in the United States.
Earlier this year, Bechtel signed agreements with Gdansk University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology to launch new Nuclear Energy Career Development Programs to help prepare the workforce for Poland’s emerging nuclear power industry. As part of these efforts to expand nuclear knowledge within Poland, the U.S. Department of Energy inaugurated a regional training center for clean energy technologies in Warsaw.
The AP1000 reactor is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and the smallest footprint per MWe on the market. There are four AP1000 reactors currently setting operational performance and availability records in China with eight additional reactors under construction and four more under contract, as well as two operating AP1000 units at the Vogtle site in Georgia. The AP1000 technology has been selected for the nuclear energy programs in Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria, and is also under consideration at multiple other sites in Central and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, India and North America. There will 18 units based on AP1000 technology in operation globally by the end of the decade. For 70 years, Bechtel has helped customers deliver clean energy through nuclear power. In that time, Bechtel has designed, built, or provided construction services on 150 nuclear plants worldwide, bringing more than 76,000 megawatts of new nuclear generation capacity to the world.
