The Law and Justice government, which lost power last year, made a decision to build at least one and possibly two nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Poland, and to this end it started talks with several potential partners, including from the U.S. and South Korea.

The opening of the first nuclear block was originally scheduled for 2032.

On Tuesday, the Industry Minister Marzena Czarnecka told the European Economic Congress in Katowice, southern Poland, that the country was “cautiously assuming the prospect of launching the first large-scale nuclear power plant in 2040.”

“Please remember that our predecessors assumed an optimistic scenario for 2032, without having anything on the so-called table. I am a realist, and we know perfectly well that all investments of this type are subject to some delays,” she said.

Czarnecka added that the government commissioner for critical infrastructure, Deputy Minister of Climate Maciej Bando, had talked about the same time perspective.

“I think this is a realistic date that can enter into force,” she said.

The current version of the Polish Nuclear Power Programme (PPEJ) from 2020 envisages the construction of two nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 6-9 GW, with 100% ownership by the State Treasury and Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) company as an investor and operator. The previous government selected the U.S. Westinghouse-Bechtel consortium as a partner for the first NPP.

According to previous assumptions, construction at the Lubiatowo-Kopalino location would start in 2026, the first AP1000 reactor using Westinghouse technology would start in 2033, and the next two within the next three years. The Ministry of Climate and Environment has said that the PPEJ will be updated later this year.