## Is Poland's First Nuclear Plant Finally Moving from Planning to Construction?

Earthworks have started at Lubiatowo-Kopalino. Bechtel has formally assumed site management from Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ), and Polish construction firm Budimex SA has been selected as the main contractor for initial earthworks — the clearest signal yet that Poland's three-unit [Westinghouse](https://smrintel.com/companies/westinghouse) AP1000 programme has crossed from years of engineering preparation into physical execution. Over 200 people are already working on the site, according to PEJ President Marek Woszczyk. The project's target: first concrete for Unit 1 in Q4 2028, commercial operation in 2036, with Units 2 and 3 following in 2037 and 2038.

The site transfer is operationally significant. Bechtel is now responsible not only for executing preparatory works but for supervising all subcontractors and enforcing site safety — a role previously held by the project owner, PEJ. For a programme of this scale, that shift in accountable party matters. General contractor authority at this stage establishes the construction management culture and supply chain discipline that will define FOAK execution risk for every subsequent phase.

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## What Bechtel Is Actually Building Right Now

The immediate scope, under a permit authorising work from Q3 2026 through Q1 2029, is site preparation across a more than 300-hectare footprint. Budimex's earthworks package includes:

- Ground levelling and additional embankment construction across the full site
- Approximately 6 kilometres of drainage ditches with culverts and erosion protection
- Reconstruction and expansion of existing drainage systems
- Approximately 16 kilometres of temporary roads
- Construction of logistics and support infrastructure: fuel storage, vehicle maintenance workshops, car washes, equipment yards, material warehouses, and office and sanitary facilities

None of this is nuclear construction in the regulatory sense — no [construction permit](https://smrintel.com/glossary/construction-permit) from Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) has yet been granted. PEJ submitted its application to the PAA on 31 March 2026. A separate building permit application to the Pomeranian Voivode is planned for 2027. First concrete — the conventional start-of-nuclear-construction milestone — cannot happen until both are in hand.

That timeline compression deserves scrutiny. Obtaining a nuclear construction permit, finalising the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract with the Westinghouse-Bechtel Consortium, and securing a building permit — all within roughly two years — is an ambitious sequence. PEJ is explicitly running some of these workstreams in parallel, which is standard practice on large programmes but also concentrates schedule risk.

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## Where the EPC Contract Stands

The absence of a signed EPC contract is the most important unresolved item in this programme. PEJ and the Westinghouse-Bechtel Consortium are operating under an Engineering Development Agreement (EDA), most recently amended on 29 December 2025. That amendment extended the scope to cover continued design work on the nuclear island, turbine island, and balance of plant, plus further geological surveys — essentially keeping the design engine running while EPC commercial terms are negotiated.

The EDA is a bridging instrument, not a construction contract. Until the EPC is executed, cost and schedule commitments for the main build remain unquantified in public disclosures. For utilities and governments evaluating the AP1000 as a reference design for their own programmes, the eventual EPC terms for Poland — the first multi-unit AP1000 project in Europe — will be closely watched as a pricing signal.

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## Budimex: Local Content and Industrial Credibility

The selection of Budimex SA for the earthworks package carries both practical and political weight. Budimex is one of Poland's largest construction contractors, with a history spanning nearly six decades across roads, railways, and energy infrastructure, according to company President Artur Popko. Routing early-phase work to a Polish firm addresses domestic industrial participation expectations — a standard pressure point in state-sponsored nuclear programmes — while keeping technically lower-risk scope (civil earthworks) with a locally credible contractor.

The more demanding question is how deep local content will run once nuclear-grade [containment](https://smrintel.com/glossary/containment) structure work, safety-class piping, and instrumentation and control installation begin. Those scopes require nuclear quality assurance programmes that most European civil contractors have not historically maintained. Poland's nuclear supply chain development will need to accelerate significantly between now and 2028.

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## Industry Trajectory: AP1000 in Europe and the FOAK Premium

Poland's programme is proceeding in parallel with other European AP1000 interest, but it is the most advanced in terms of physical site activity on the continent. Each month of tangible construction progress strengthens [Westinghouse](https://smrintel.com/companies/westinghouse)'s position in ongoing European procurement discussions, where the AP1000 competes against Korean APR1400 and French EPR2 designs.

The three-unit scope at Lubiatowo-Kopalino also matters for [LCOE](https://smrintel.com/glossary/lcoe) projections. Multi-unit AP1000 builds allow series construction efficiencies — shared infrastructure, workforce learning curves, bulk procurement — that single-unit projects cannot capture. The FOAK premium on the first unit will be substantial; whether that premium compresses meaningfully on Units 2 and 3 will depend heavily on Bechtel's execution of exactly the kind of site preparation discipline now beginning.

Each AP1000 unit has a rated output of approximately 1,117 MWe. Three units would give Poland roughly 3,350 MWe of new nuclear [baseload power](https://smrintel.com/glossary/baseload) — a transformative addition for a country currently generating the majority of its electricity from coal.

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## Key Takeaways

- **Bechtel has formally assumed site management** at Lubiatowo-Kopalino from PEJ as of August 2026, with earthworks now underway.
- **Budimex SA** has been selected as main contractor for initial earthworks, covering a 300+ hectare site with approximately 16 km of temporary roads and 6 km of drainage ditches under a permit running to Q1 2029.
- **Over 200 people** are currently working on the project site, per PEJ.
- **First concrete target remains Q4 2028**, contingent on obtaining both a PAA construction permit (applied 31 March 2026) and a Pomeranian Voivode building permit (application planned 2027).
- **The EPC contract has not yet been signed**; the Westinghouse-Bechtel Consortium and PEJ are operating under an amended Engineering Development Agreement.
- **Commercial operation targets**: Unit 1 in 2036, Unit 2 in 2037, Unit 3 in 2038 — approximately seven years of construction per unit plus one year of testing.
- **The AP1000 EPC terms from Poland** will serve as a European reference price point once finalised.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**When will Poland's first nuclear power plant start producing electricity?**
PEJ targets commercial operation for the first AP1000 unit at Lubiatowo-Kopalino in 2036, with the second and third units following in 2037 and 2038 respectively. Each unit requires approximately seven years of construction plus one year of testing and commissioning.

**Has construction officially begun on Poland's nuclear plant?**
Earthworks have started and Bechtel has assumed site management, but regulatory nuclear construction — marked by first concrete — is targeted for Q4 2028. That milestone requires a construction permit from Poland's National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA), for which PEJ applied on 31 March 2026, and a building permit from the Pomeranian Voivode, planned for application in 2027.

**Who is the general contractor for Poland's nuclear plant?**
Bechtel is the general contractor, partnered with Westinghouse Electric Company, which is supplying the AP1000 reactor technology. Polish firm Budimex SA has been selected as the main subcontractor for initial earthworks.

**What reactor technology is being used at Lubiatowo-Kopalino?**
Three Westinghouse AP1000 pressurised water reactors. The technology was selected by the Polish government in November 2022. Each unit is rated at approximately 1,117 MWe.

**Is the EPC contract for Poland's nuclear plant signed?**
No. As of August 2026, PEJ and the Westinghouse-Bechtel Consortium are operating under an amended Engineering Development Agreement covering design work and geological surveys. EPC contract negotiations are ongoing, and the agreement is described by PEJ as a bridge instrument while those negotiations are finalised.