PEJ orders six long-lead items from Westinghouse for first Polish AP1000

Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe has commissioned Westinghouse to begin ordering long-lead items for the first unit of Poland's planned first nuclear power plant, a three-unit AP1000 project, PEJ said on October 8.

The order covers six components of the nuclear island, including the reactor containment vessel and associated structural modules. Long-lead items are typically heavy forgings and castings for pressure vessels, steam turbines and generators; with a limited number of heavy engineering plants able to make such components, they often need to be ordered years before installation.

The procurement is being initiated under the current Engineering Development Agreement between PEJ and the Westinghouse-Bechtel Consortium. The scope covers technical documentation, quality and supervision plans, selecting and contracting suppliers, and initiating material procurement needed to start production. Production and delivery of the finished components will be handled under a subsequent order, which PEJ plans to issue as part of the power plant construction contract. PEJ and Westinghouse anticipate that Polish companies completing the ASME NQA-1 quality standard process will compete for the contracts.

First concrete targeted for late 2028

PEJ submitted a construction permit application to the President of Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency on March 31. It expects to pour first concrete for the first unit in the fourth quarter of 2028, and plans to submit a building permit application to the Pomeranian Voivode in 2027. Construction of each reactor is expected to take about seven years, followed by approximately one year of testing and commissioning. The aim is for the first reactor to begin commercial operation in 2036, the second in 2037 and the third in 2038.

EPC terms agreed in September

PEJ and the Westinghouse-Bechtel Consortium agreed the main commercial and legal terms of the EPC contract in September and plan to complete negotiations by the end of this year. Westinghouse AP1000 technology was selected in November 2022 for the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania. An 18-month engineering services contract was signed in September 2023, an Engineering Development Agreement followed in April last year, and an amendment signed in December 2025 extended design work covering the nuclear island, turbine island and balance of plant.

"We have already ordered the first long lead items, for which Bechtel is responsible, and we are now beginning this process with Westinghouse, which is responsible for the broadly defined nuclear portion of the plant," PEJ President Marek Woszczyk said.