Cameco Corporation's 49%‑owned Westinghouse agrees Polish nuclear EPC terms
PEJ aims to finish negotiations by year-end 2026 for three AP1000 units totaling 3,750 MWe; the EPC price remains undisclosed.
Ines Halvorsen
On Sept. 23, Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) agreed main terms for a planned 3,750 MWe nuclear plant with privately held Westinghouse Electric Company and privately held Bechtel; Westinghouse is 49 per cent owned by Cameco Corporation TSECCO NYSECCJ. In its Sept. 23 release, Bechtel put contracts awarded to Polish firms above PLN 1 billion (US$250 million), but gave no price for the proposed engineering, procurement and construction contract. PEJ aims to finish negotiations by the end of 2026; neither side disclosed a contract term.
Before the announcement, Cameco shares TSECCO closed at C$133.27 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Sept. 22 as of 4:00 p.m. EDT. That price does not capture Wednesday's market response.
The agreed points cover the main commercial and legal issues, while detailed terms and contract exhibits remain open, PEJ said on Sept. 23. Three AP1000 units are planned for the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site in Choczewo, with a combined 3,750 MWe of electrical capacity. PEJ's Sept. 23 notice expects first electricity to reach the Polish grid in 2036.
Cameco paid US$2.1 billion for its Westinghouse holding when the purchase closed on Nov. 7, 2023. Cameco accounts for the stake on an equity basis, so the Polish subcontract awards are not Cameco sales. The Sept. 23 notices give investors no basis to calculate earnings from the unsigned EPC agreement.
PEJ Applied for Nuclear Construction Licence
PEJ said it applied to Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency in March 2026 for a nuclear construction licence. It plans to apply for a separate building permit in 2027; PEJ's Sept. 23 notice gives no decision date for either. Preparatory site work therefore sits on a different timetable from reactor construction approval.
Bechtel said on Sept. 23 that grading, drainage upgrades and temporary-road construction were underway at the site. Bechtel's Aug. 7 notice says the preparatory work includes about 16 kilometres of temporary roads across a 300-hectare site. The Sept. 23 agreement does not report a full EPC award or a nuclear construction licence.
“The American Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium will be responsible for the construction of the facility, with the first electricity to the Polish grid from the power plant to flow in 2036,” PEJ president Marek Woszczyk said in Bechtel's Sept. 23 release.
Bechtel cites the AP1000 units at Georgia's Vogtle plant as previous work by the two companies.
Read more: Georgia Power and Google to fund 96 MW of nuclear uprates at Vogtle and Hatch
Bechtel's Sept. 23 release does not give lead times for major Polish equipment, leaving the schedule from final design to first power unquantified in the public notices. Bechtel says the Polish awards cover site preparation through civil works. It expects further local subcontracts, though its Sept. 23 release gives no date or amount for them.
The next contract milestone is the end of 2026, when PEJ and the Westinghouse-Bechtel team say they aim to conclude EPC negotiations. PEJ's separate building-permit application is planned for 2027.
