Westinghouse and Bechtel welcome plans to invest in Poland’s first nuclear power plant
Westinghouse Electric Company and Bechtel welcome the Polish government’s plans to allocate 60 billion zlotys to finance the country’s first nuclear power plant.
The news came as the partners met with key stakeholders in Warsaw and Gdansk to discuss progress on the project and reaffirm their commitment to economic and community development. The local authorities in Gdansk were briefed on the final stages of the project, including the in-depth geological surveys being carried out on site, which provide key data for further planning of project activities. The project is being implemented by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), a state-owned company, in the Choczewo commune in Pomerania.
‘Energy security is national security. The United States is proud to be Poland’s closest partner and most trusted friend in the energy transition,’ said Mark Brzezinski, US Ambassador to Poland. – Poland’s selection of Westinghouse and Bechtel – two gold-standard US companies – to implement the country’s civil nuclear power programme makes energy security the cornerstone of our cooperation.’
‘With the AP1000® design, Poland has chosen the most advanced, proven technology that is already setting records with six operating units and another 12 expected to be operational before the end of the decade,’ said Patrick Fragman, president and CEO of Westinghouse. – The economic impact of the project in Poland will be more than 100 billion PLN, providing tens of thousands of jobs during construction and many decades of future operation.’
‘This historic project will strengthen the country’s energy independence while providing tremendous economic opportunities, including new jobs, the training of a skilled nuclear workforce and the establishment of a supply chain with significant participation by Polish companies,’ – Craig Albert, president and chief operating officer of Bechtel, said.
Westinghouse and Bechtel will bring to the Polish project a combined total of more than 140 years of experience in the nuclear power sector and the only proven supply chain location model. Bechtel and the Polish Economic Chamber of Energy and Environmental Protection (IGEOS) recently organised supplier symposia in Gdansk and Gdynia, attracting more than 150 companies from the region. Westinghouse has partnered with more than 500 companies on the project and hosts an annual internship programme for Polish students in the US.
Earlier this year, Bechtel signed agreements with Gdansk University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology to launch new Nuclear Career Development Programmes to help prepare the workforce for Poland’s growing nuclear power industry. As part of this effort to expand nuclear energy knowledge in Poland, the US Department of Energy has inaugurated a regional clean energy technology training centre in Warsaw.
The AP1000 reactor is the only Generation III+ reactor in operation, with fully passive safety systems, a modular design and the lowest emissions performance per MWe on the market. Currently, four AP1000 reactors are setting records for operational performance and availability in China; eight additional reactors are under construction and four more are contracted, as are two operating AP1000 reactors at the Vogtle power plant in the state of Georgia. AP1000 technology has been selected for nuclear power programmes in Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria, and is being considered for a number of other locations in Central and Eastern Europe, the UK, India and North America. By the end of the decade, 18 reactors based on AP1000 technology will be in operation worldwide. For 70 years, Bechtel has been helping customers deliver clean energy through nuclear power. During this time, the company has designed, built or provided construction services for 150 nuclear power plants around the world, delivering more than 76,000 megawatts of new nuclear generating capacity.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
