The document was signed at a ceremony in Warsaw on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
In attendance were Poland’s Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa; the US ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski; Westinghouse and Bechtel executives; and Polish government officials, according to news reports.
Moskwa told reporters that the agreement marked “a new stage” in the plan to build Poland’s first nuclear station, with “US nuclear energy giant Bechtel joining the project as the contractor.”
‘Next major stage of Poland's flagship nuclear energy initiative’
The document, signed by Westinghouse Electric Company, Bechtel and Polish state utility Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), defines “the principles of the parties' cooperation in the design and construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant,” according to officials.
The agreement “sets out a plan for the delivery of the project” and confirms “the implementation of the next major stage of Poland's flagship nuclear energy initiative,” Westinghouse said in a statement.
The US ambassador told reporters: “Today’s agreement is a demonstration of the bond that brings these three great U.S. and Polish companies together as one team committed to one goal. That goal is to use the world’s best technology to help Poland build a nuclear power plant which will provide safe, affordable, and clean power for generations to come.”
Westinghouse said: “The action today lays the foundation for the design activity to start later this year and the construction contract in 2025.”
Poland to open nuclear energy training centre: officials
Moskwa and Brzezinski announced that Poland would soon launch a training centre for experts in nuclear energy to support its budding nuclear industry, and where experts “from all over Europe” would have an opportunity to gain “cutting-edge knowledge straight from American laboratories and universities,” public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Brzezinski told reporters that a US trade mission would visit Poland from September 20 to 22 to discuss “the supply chain for Poland’s first nuclear plant,” among other topics, the PAP news agency reported.
Co-organised by the US Department of Energy and the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment, the mission is designed to bring together “leading US companies and potential Polish partners” to discuss the supply chain for Poland’s first nuclear power plant, Brzezinski added, as quoted by the PAP news agency.
Poland’s first nuclear station to be ready by 2033
Poland’s first nuclear station is set to be built in the northern villages of Lubiatowo and Kopalino using Westinghouse's AP1000 reactor technology, officials said.
Construction is set to start in 2026, with the first of three reactors slated to be ready in 2033, according to the Polish government.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, bankier.pl, info.westinghousenuclear.com