Poland’s first nuclear plant moves closer as PEJ seeks permit for early construction works

Excavations and cooling tunnels under the Baltic

The works cover site preparation for the plant and its supporting infrastructure, including deep excavations where the three AP1000 reactors will stand, retaining structures for the excavation walls and measures to keep groundwater out. The project also includes a retention reservoir for rain and meltwater, internal roads and launch shafts for a tunnel boring machine (TBM). Under current regulations, these works do not require a separate permit from the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency.

For the maritime sector, the key element is the onshore part of the circulating water system, the pipelines that will draw in and discharge the seawater used to cool the plant. The President of the National Atomic Energy Agency has classified the system as having no significant bearing on nuclear safety and radiological protection, which allows it to be built as part of the non-nuclear works. The intake and outfall tunnels will be bored beneath the beach and the seabed of the Baltic Sea using trenchless methods.

- Building a nuclear power plant is the largest energy project in Poland's history. We changed the law to make its delivery more efficient, and the application for Preliminary Construction Works puts those solutions into practice. Nuclear power means greater energy security for our country and stable energy supplies for decades for the Polish economy and Polish households - said Minister of Energy Miłosz Motyka.

A new legal shortcut put to work

The Preliminary Construction Works procedure was introduced by an act of 3 July 2026 amending Poland's law on the preparation and delivery of nuclear energy facilities. Its aim was to allow certain construction work to begin before the main phase of the investment, and the PEJ application is the first practical use of the new rules.

- From a scheduling point of view, it allows us to start some of the basic works earlier, those not directly related to the nuclear part of the plant, without waiting for further administrative approvals, while maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety. The application would also not have been possible without cooperation with the government administration and the efficient processing of the necessary changes to the nuclear act - said Marek Woszczyk, President of the Management Board of Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe.

The plant is being built in the municipality of Choczewo in Pomerania and will have an installed capacity of 3,750 MWe from three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. At the Lubiatowo-Kopalino site, the second stage of preparatory work is under way, covering infrastructure for the future construction site, while contractor Bechtel is carrying out detailed geological surveys on land and at sea. PEJ is preparing to apply for the main building permit for the plant in 2027.