Cranberry Township-based Westinghouse Electric Co., a nuclear power company, and Bechtel, a Virginia-based engineering, construction and project management company, recently signed an agreement to design and build Poland’s first nuclear power plant.
“This is a team with demonstrated ability to deliver on large nuclear energy projects,” David Durham, Westinghouse president for energy systems, said. “The fleet experience we have earned with our advanced, proven AP1000 technology, including a 100 percent complete design and construction lessons-learned, will serve Poland well as it seeks decarbonization and increased energy security.”
In November 2022, the Polish government selected the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor technology for its nuclear energy program. The AP1000 is a Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, a modular design and the smallest footprint per megawatts electric available.
The reactor currently is in use in the United States in Georgia, and in China. Bulgaria selected the AP1000 technology for its new reactor program earlier this year. It is under consideration at multiple other sites in Central and Eastern Europe, North America and the United Kingdom.
In Poland, the reactor will be added to the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Pomerania. Licensing and engineering work is underway. The reactor is expected to become operational in 2033.