Poland starts ordering long-lead parts for its first AP1000 reactor
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readPolskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), the state-owned company building Poland's first nuclear power plant, has commissioned Westinghouse to begin ordering long-lead items for the first of the plant's three AP1000 reactors at Lubiatowo-Kopalino in Pomerania, World Nuclear News reported on 8 October.
What is being ordered. The scope covers six key components of the nuclear island, including the reactor containment vessel and associated structural modules. This first step covers technical documentation, quality and supervision plans, selecting and contracting suppliers and starting material procurement; the production and delivery of finished components will come under a later order that PEJ plans to place as part of the construction (EPC) contract. Bechtel, responsible for the non-nuclear part, already has its first long-lead items on order.
Why now, before the EPC contract. The order runs under the existing Engineering Development Agreement with the Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium. Wojciech Wrochna, the government plenipotentiary for strategic energy infrastructure, said the approach lets Poland keep negotiating the EPC contract in detail "without the pressure" that not ordering long-lead items would put on the schedule. The parties agreed the main commercial and legal terms of the EPC contract in September and aim to finish negotiations by the end of this year. PEJ president Marek Woszczyk added that ordering early also helps control the budget, because these items are a significant share of the cost.
The Polish supply chain. Westinghouse said the step is meant to let Polish industry enter the nuclear component supply chain; Polish firms that obtain the international ASME NQA-1 quality certification are expected to compete for contracts.
The schedule as it stands. PEJ applied to the national atomic energy agency for a construction permit on 31 March 2026 and plans to apply for a building permit in 2027. It expects first concrete in Q4 2028. Each unit is expected to take about seven years to build plus a year of commissioning, with commercial operation planned for 2036, 2037 and 2038.
Source: World Nuclear News, "Poland begins ordering long-lead components for first AP1000", 8 October 2026 — https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/poland-begins-ordering-long-lead-components-for-first-ap1000