Fluor teams with GE-Hitachi for Poland

Thursday, 15 September 2011 The engineering, procurement and construction of a new nuclear power plant in Poland could be managed by Fluor if GE-Hitachi wins a new-build contract.

The companies announced a memorandum of understanding today, one week before the Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) utility hosts an 'engagement conference' and officially launches a nuclear tender.

In the run-up to this, Poland has courted a range of reactor vendors: Areva and Westinghouse as well as GE-Hitachi. PGE has signed non-exclusive investigation agreements with each of these, regarding the EPR, AP100, ABWR and ESBWR designs.

GE-Hitachi said it expected PGE to select a reactor vendor in mid-2013 for the start of nuclear power generation in 2020. Part of GE-Hitachi's engagement in the country has been to discuss potential partnerships with several Polish engineering firms, including Energoprojekt Warsaw, SNC-Lavalin Polska, the Stocznia Gdansk shipyard, as well as the Polatom research institute.

Poland plans to establish nuclear power plants sufficient to supply 15% of electricity by 2030 - at least 4.6 GWe in capacity - in order to reduce the use of coal to 60%.

Three locations have been short-listed as likely sites for a plant: Zarnowiec, Kopan and Lubiatowo/ Klempicz, with others in Nowe Miasto and Pilica (Mazovia province) and Belchatow still being considered.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News