A country where coal is king, Poland is also switching to nuclear power. And if this decision is a good thing for the fight against global warming, the decision will nevertheless make people cringe in Europe, in France in particular. Because Warsaw chose the American group Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant in 2033, and not EDF, which was a candidate for this contract, which the South Korean group KHNP also claimed. The American group has been chosen “for the first part of the Polish nuclear project worth 40 billion dollars”, announced the American Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm.
“We confirm that our nuclear energy project will use reliable and safe technology from @WECNuclear” (Westinghouse, editor’s note), wrote on Twitter, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Friday, specifying that the decision would be officially confirmed during of a Council of Ministers in Warsaw next Wednesday.
Close ties between Washington and Warsaw
A decision which is hardly surprising given the close ties between Warsaw and Washington and the decisions already taken by Poland in the past in other strategic sectors such as defense and aeronautics. This is enough to reinforce criticism in Europe against Poland, which does not play the European card even though it has benefited since its entry into the European Union in 2004 from colossal aid from Brussels to ensure its development.
However, Poland has always favored the United States because it is convinced that Washington will be quicker to help than Europe in the event of an attack by Russia. A feeling that was reinforced with the war in Ukraine. At the end of March, a month after the start of the war, during Joe Biden’s visit to Poland, Polish President Donald Tusk announced defense agreements with the United States and openly declared that civilian nuclear energy would go through a partnership with Washington.
“I firmly believe that this partnership that we have between the United States and Poland for the development of nuclear energy in our country, in close cooperation between our two states, will be implemented and finalized. I have Minister Piotr Naimski here with me, who is responsible for this program on the Polish side. And I am confident that together with the American companies, but under the strong patronage of the White House, we will be able to successfully implement this program in the near future, because Poland badly needs it,” said the Polish president, according to a White House account at the time.
“This is a huge step in strengthening our relationship with Poland for generations to come,” said Jennifer Granholm.
“Interdependent security for decades to come”
A senior US government official speaking on condition of anonymity, however, revealed the deal was worth “billions” of dollars and would create “thousands of well-paying jobs”. “This is not just about a commercial energy project, this is about how we will define what I would call interdependent security for decades to come,” the official said.
Poland had been planning for years to develop the capability to produce nuclear energy for civilian purposes, and the issue of energy security became more urgent due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Polish decision “sends an unequivocal message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin about the strength…of the US-Polish alliance,” the official continued.