Poland's first nuclear power plant: What lessons can Ukraine learn from this project?

Neighboring Poland is making significant strides towards the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant. The project has received consistent support from various governments, aimed at replacing outdated coal-fired power plants and enhancing the country's regional role. How far have the Polish colleagues progressed, and what can Ukraine learn from their experience? This is explored in the material by RBC-Ukraine.

Contents:

• Background
• Current project status
• Significance of nuclear generation
• Ukrainian assistance will be useful
• Lessons from Polish experience

Currently, the role of nuclear energy is actively increasing worldwide. On February 6, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, stated: "Today, I can confirm that nuclear energy is making a comeback, a strong comeback. This year (2025), we expect that electricity generation from nuclear power plants worldwide will be the largest in history."

According to him, around 70 GW of nuclear generation is currently under construction in 50 countries across the globe.

"We have never seen such a large volume of nuclear power plant construction in the last 30 years," Birol said, adding that many countries are also actively paving the way for small modular reactor technology.

The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency emphasized that many countries are returning to the necessity of developing nuclear energy, such as Italy and Sweden. Japan is restarting its nuclear energy projects, France continues to actively support its nuclear sector, and countries like Turkey and Poland are beginning new nuclear construction.

Background

The Polish state has previously attempted to build nuclear power units. Back in the 1980s, the socialist Polish government planned to construct a nuclear power plant near the village of Żarnowiec, located not far from the Baltic Sea. The plan included a station with four VVER-440 type reactors. Construction of two units began, but work was halted in 1989. The completion of the plant was hindered by the Chernobyl disaster and the general skepticism towards nuclear energy that followed.

In 2009, the Polish government established the state nuclear company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), which was intended to operate future nuclear power plants. The company renewed efforts to develop nuclear generation and began proposing new projects.

The previous government, led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (2017-2023), and the current government under Donald Tusk, approached the implementation of these plans actively. In October 2020, the Polish Nuclear Energy Program was adopted. The document outlines the construction of 6-9 GW of nuclear generation using pressurized water reactors. In August 2024, Donald Tusk announced the commencement of preparatory work for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland.

According to him, work has begun on creating the infrastructure for the start of nuclear construction. At that time, the Polish Ministry of Finance announced the preparation of significant funds in the 2025 budget, which are intended for the nuclear power plant project. In October 2024, Tusk stated that over the next decade, an investment of 70 billion zlotys (about 17 billion USD) is planned for the construction of the nuclear power plant in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

For the construction of the new nuclear power plant, Poland chose the leading engineering company Westinghouse as the developer of reactor technology, which is co-owned by the Canadian uranium mining company Cameco Corporation and the investment firm Brookfield Renewable Partners. In January 2025, Donald Tusk visited Canada and signed an agreement on intensive cooperation in the field of nuclear energy with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Current project status

According to Bloomberg, on January 7, 2025, the Polish government approved a draft decision to increase the authorized capital of the PEJ company by 14.7 billion dollars. This amount is planned to be provided to the company either as direct funds to PEJ's accounts or in the form of bonds. It is also reported that the Polish side plans to put the first reactor into operation in 2036. According to Bloomberg, the Polish government intends to attract three sources of funding for the construction of the nuclear power plant: direct financing from the PEJ operator from the budget, providing government guarantees for obtaining credit, and concluding a 60-year "contract for differences."

This type of contract ensures that the operator company is guaranteed a certain electricity price by the government throughout the contract's duration. In this case, the company sells electricity independently on the market at the prevailing price and receives the difference between the guaranteed and market prices if the latter is lower than the fixed contract price. The guaranteed price ensures a return on investment for the project. Such contracts are typical for large energy projects and have been used in the construction of nuclear power units in many European countries.

The Polish government's decision requires approval from the European Commission, which began reviewing the matter in mid-December 2024. Brussels must verify whether such a scale and form of financial support for nuclear construction comply with European state aid legislation. According to Bloomberg, the Polish government has already allocated 4.6 billion zlotys (1.1 billion USD) in the 2025 budget for the nuclear power plant project.

Deputy Minister of Industry Wojciech Wrochnia stated in December 2024 that the results of the Brussels inquiry would help Warsaw develop an appropriate funding model for the project. "By ensuring rapid negotiations, the planned commissioning of the first unit in 2036 should not be at risk," the official added in comments to Bloomberg.

Commenting on the Polish project, Yuriy Sapozhnikov, chairman of the board of the Kyiv Scientific Research and Design Institute "EnergoProekt," noted that Poland plans to build two reactors using Westinghouse's AP-1000 technology in the first phase. According to him, this technology was developed in the early 2000s and has proven to be reliable.

"This installation, in my opinion, has a significant number of competitive advantages, especially in terms of safety. An interesting concept has been laid down, utilizing the maximum number of passive systems. These systems operate independently, for instance, under the influence of gravity. This is the main competitive advantage of such installations," Yuriy Sapozhnikov commented for RBC-Ukraine.

He reminded that Ukraine's Energoatom has also chosen this technology for the construction of power units No. 5 and No. 6 at the Khmelnytsky Nuclear Power Plant.

"Poland has taken the same path. The Poles made a conscious decision in favor of American technology, which is absolutely adequate in terms of technical expertise and safety. This is the safest, proven, and tested technology available in the market," added the chairman of the EnergoProekt institute.

Yuriy Sapozhnikov also emphasized Westinghouse's experience, which has become a parent company for many other global representatives in nuclear energy and has built power units using the AP-1000 technology in China and the USA. Moreover, this technology has been acquired by other nuclear power plant operators, resulting in a whole fleet of power units being constructed based on it.

In a comment for RBC-Ukraine, the chairman of the EnergoProekt institute noted the estimated cost of the two reactors, each with a capacity of 1,000 MW: "The cost per kilowatt of installed capacity of nuclear power plants has increased from 5,000 to 7,000 USD since 2005. Thus, two units of 1,000 MW will cost around 14 billion USD. The cost of constructing a nuclear power unit heavily depends on labor costs, which, for instance, in the USA or the UK, will be more expensive than in Poland. Therefore, such a price for Poland is quite reasonable."

Significance of nuclear generation

For many years, coal generation has been the primary source of electricity production in Poland, as the country has rich coal deposits and a developed coal industry. However, the European Union has taken a clear course towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and gradually phasing out coal as one of the dirtiest sources of generation.

The Polish side also understands that its coal-fired power plants will gradually be decommissioned. Currently, they produce about 70% of all electricity in the country. Replacing such a share in the energy balance will not be easy, hence a significant source of production is needed that will, of course, meet the criterion of carbon neutrality. In this case, nuclear energy becomes the ideal solution.

"Currently, low-carbon and reliable in the long term is nuclear generation. Therefore, Poland has embarked on an ambitious project: they plan to build six large nuclear units with a capacity of 1 GW each, as well as 40 small modular reactors. This will replace the basic coal generation that is planned to be decommissioned in the future," commented Ivan Hryhoruk, Vice President of the Energy Club business association, for RBC-Ukraine.

His opinion