Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa made the statement during a ceremony in Warsaw on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
She was present as the state-run firm Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) officially signed the contract ”for pre-design cooperation” with Westinghouse Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric Poland.
Also in attendance was the US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, officials said.
‘Nuclear energy is the future of Poland’
Moskwa told reporters: “Nuclear energy is the future of Poland and the path towards ensuring energy security. This strategic investment, for which PEJ, Westinghouse Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric Poland signed an agreement today, will give us clean and safe energy of our own and a stimulus for growth.”
Moskwa added that Poland’s first nuclear power plant would be built in cooperation “with a stable, experienced, safe partner,” and would form “a part of Polish-American cooperation.”
‘Polish-US cooperation on energy security has grown considerably in recent years’
She stated: “In recent years, Poland and the US considerably strengthened their cooperation on energy security. There would have been no liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Poland without a declaration of strategic cooperation from the US, without stable, secure supplies.”
Moskwa told reporters that last year, "when Europe was gripped by an energy crisis," amid Russia’s assault on Ukraine, “Poland didn’t worry about the security of supply, we only had to make sure prices were affordable to all consumers.”
Moskwa said: “I believe today’s decision and today’s agreement will enable us to feel secure in the coming years as we are obligated to ensure Poland’s energy security.”
In November, Poland's government greenlighted plans to develop nuclear energy in the country. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced at the time that Poland's "first nuclear facility will be built using US technology in cooperation with the American company Westinghouse Nuclear.”
He revealed that Poland’s first nuclear power plant would be built "in the north of the country" and cost around USD 20 billion, the PAP news agency reported.
Moskwa told the media in November that the government had agreed to build three reactors in northern Poland, with “construction set to start in 2026 and the first reactor to be ready in 2033,” according to news reports at the time.
During a meeting with Morawiecki in Warsaw on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden “welcomed the Polish government’s decision to select a U.S-based company, Westinghouse, to provide the technology for its first three nuclear reactors, cementing a long-term strategic energy partnership between Poland and the United States,” the White House said in a statement.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, tvp.info, ABC News