Poland picks US firm to build its first nuclear power station: PM

Poland has selected Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power station, officials said on Friday, with the US company beating rival bids from France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP.

“We confirm our nuclear energy project will use the reliable, safe technology of @WECNuclear,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Twitter.

Morawiecki said the decision would be formally adopted at a cabinet meeting in Warsaw on Wednesday.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm hailed the decision saying: “This is a huge step in strengthening our relationship with Poland for future generations to come”.

Granholm said Poland was selecting Westinghouse “for the first part of their $40bn nuclear project”, without specifying the amount of the investment.

A senior US government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the deal was in the “billions” and would create “thousands of good-paying jobs”.

“This is a huge deal because this is not just about a commercial energy project, it’s about the way we will define what I would call interdependent security for decades to come,” the official said.

Poland has been planning a civil nuclear energy capacity for years but the issue of energy security has taken on added urgency because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The decision “sends an unmistakeable message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin about the strength and the meshing together of the US-Poland alliance,” the official said.

The Polish government has said it wants its first nuclear power station to go online in 2033.

dt/pvh