Cameco Corporation's Westinghouse begins Polish AP1000 procurement
PEJ instructed Westinghouse to begin ordering long lead components for the first Lubiatowo-Kopalino unit as wider EPC terms remain under negotiation.
Ines Halvorsen
Oct. 8 brought a long lead procurement instruction for the first of three planned AP1000 reactors at Poland's Lubiatowo-Kopalino site, giving Cameco Corporation TSECCO NYSECCJ a new milestone through its stake in privately held Westinghouse Electric Company. The instruction covers equipment for one unit; PEJ's announcement gives no price in its published summary, while Westinghouse's Sept. 23 release says the main commercial terms agreed with PEJ concern a proposed three-unit EPC contract. Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe, or PEJ, is the customer, and the remaining EPC terms and exhibits are under negotiation.
PEJ said Thursday that it had instructed Westinghouse to begin ordering components with long lead times. The project owner called this a step in preparing to start construction on schedule, but its news summary did not specify the components' delivery dates. An instruction to begin procurement is an earlier milestone than completed manufacturing or delivery.
Cameco shares closed Wednesday at C$126.96 in Toronto at 4:00:01 p.m. EDT, according to TSECCO on Google Finance. The Oct. 7 close preceded PEJ's announcement, so it cannot measure a share-price response to the order.
The Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium and PEJ agreed on the main commercial terms for a proposed engineering, procurement and construction contract on Sept. 23. Westinghouse said it aims to finalize the remaining terms and exhibits by year-end 2026. The proposed contract would cover three AP1000 units, while Thursday's procurement instruction concerns only the first.
"With this agreement, we continue our close partnership with PEJ for the delivery of our proven, advanced AP1000 reactor for this historic project," Dan Lipman, Westinghouse president of global business initiatives, said in the Sept. 23 release.
The Site Permit Covers Preparatory Works
The PEJ news record says the Pomeranian governor authorized a second stage of site preparation on July 1. PEJ described that work as grading, temporary support facilities and utility connections, with work scheduled to start in July. That permit covers preparatory works; the summary does not call it authorization to build the reactors.
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PEJ said on Aug. 5 that it transferred management of the site to Bechtel and that earthworks were starting. Bechtel is the construction member of the consortium negotiating the remaining terms of the proposed EPC contract with PEJ. Site preparation and first-unit equipment procurement are thus both under way, while the comprehensive construction terms still await completion.
Westinghouse describes the AP1000 as a modular design in its September release. As of Sept. 23, Westinghouse counted six AP1000 reactors operating worldwide, 14 under construction and five more under contract. The figures were the supplier's own account of its global pipeline. PEJ's Oct. 8 summary gives neither the duration of manufacturing nor a delivery date for the long lead package, and the Sept. 23 release does not price the proposed EPC contract. Those missing terms leave Cameco investors without a figure for the order's contribution to Westinghouse or a dated equipment handover.
Westinghouse said on Sept. 23 it aims to finalize the remaining EPC terms and exhibits with PEJ by year-end 2026.
