USTDA said in a statement that the study will be carried out by Westinghouse and Bechtel and will aim to support the Polish government’s decision-making process for the deployment of two nuclear power stations, each consisting of three nuclear reactors.
According to the statement, the study will provide PEJ with layout plans for the location of the first nuclear power station, a strategic licensing plan, a project schedule, and a budgetary cost estimate for delivery, construction and start-up of the first power plant.
USTDA said that “in a demonstration of broad US government support for the project”, funding will be contributed by other agencies like the US Departments of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and the Department of Energy. Westinghouse and Bechtel will contribute additional resources toward the study’s completion.
The agency said the grant was made possible by the bilateral nuclear agreement signed between Washington and Warsaw at the end of 2020 and in force since February 2021. In December 2020, Poland also signed an agreement with the US Export-Import (Exim) Bank to finance projects supporting climate change in Poland, including potential new reactors.
“The front-end engineering and design study, on which US companies will now be able to begin their work, will help Poland’s government take the final decision on strategic partnership in constructing Poland’s nuclear power plants for a clean energy system”, said Polish secretary of state for strategic energy infrastructure Piotr Naimski.
Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse said that the front-end study will be based on its AP-1000 technology and will be reviewed after one year by the Polish government to help in its selection of the “best partner” for its nuclear power programme.
Poland wants to build from 6,000 to 9,000 MW of installed nuclear capacity based on large-scale, pressurised water nuclear reactors of Generation III and III+ designs. Commercial operation of a first nuclear reactor unit in a proposed set of six is planned for 2033.
Warsaw’s 2040 energy plans foresee the reduction of coal-fired power generation to about 50% from about 80% today, and replacing the phased-out capacity with zero-emission sources like nuclear and renewables.
According to Tomasz Nowacki, director of the nuclear energy department at Warsaw’s climate ministry, Poland’s goal is to have one strategic partner for its ambitious nuclear programme “for decades”, not only for construction but for operation and decommissioning.
The Polish government has said no decision has been made on the technology to be used for the new-build project and the government is ready to review other offers which come their way.