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Poland close to selecting foreign partner for nuclear power project: deputy PM

24.10.2022 07:30
Poland is close to selecting a foreign partner to help build its first nuclear power plant, a deputy prime minister said after talks in Washington on Sunday.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin (right) and Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa (left) speak to reporters after talks in Washington with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday, October 23, 2022.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin (right) and Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa (left) speak to reporters after talks in Washington with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sunday, October 23, 2022.Photo: Polish Ministry of State Assets/twitter.com/MAPGOVPL

"We are very close to choosing a foreign partner for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland as part of a government programme," Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin told reporters after a meeting with US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

He added that there is a "very good chance" that US company Westinghouse would supply the technology for the first three nuclear reactors in Poland.

"I think we are closer rather than further to making such a decision," said Sasin, who is also Poland's minister for state assets.

Poland's ambassador to the United States, Marek Magierowski, hailed "productive talks" in Washington by Sasin and Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa.

In mid-September, the US government and the Westinghouse nuclear power company offered to build six large-scale reactors based on American technology in Poland, according to reports at the time, in addition to proposing cooperation on civil nuclear energy.

Poland has also received offers for the construction of nuclear power plants from France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP, Polish state news agency PAP reported. 

Poland's Moskwa said on Friday that the Polish government would choose a contractor for the country’s first nuclear power plant by the end of this year.

She told private broadcaster Polsat News at the time that 2026 remained "a realistic date for launching the construction of the first nuclear reactor” in Poland.

(gs)

Source: PAP