What’s in this article
- Canadian nuclear companies often rely on federal financial assistance for projects. Not all are equally deserving.
- Westinghouse received a letter of intent from Export Development Canada for $1.45 million to support Poland’s first nuclear power plant.
- Building a nuclear plant in Poland will enhance European energy leadership and security.
- Cameco’s position in global nuclear power, through Westinghouse, strengthens with Polish nuclear developments.
- Canada’s federal support aligns with NATO goals, promoting non-emitting electricity generation.
A version of this article appeared in the January 2025 Look Ahead edition of the CNWC Newsletter. Check that out when you get a minute.
It’s an open question if there exists a nuclear company with a connection to Canada that does not require Canadian federal financial help. Whether or not that help is deserved is a separate question. Some reactor types deserve it, others do not. Unfortunately, federal support for the nuclear industry seems to assume all reactor vendors are equally viable and equally deserving.
What about Westinghouse, part-owned by CNWC employer Cameco? On December 9 Westinghouse announced that it had received a letter of interest for $1.45 million from Export Development Canada “to support the AP1000® project to build Poland’s first nuclear power plant.” Does Westinghouse fall into the undeserving category?
No. Unlike most of the reactor developers whose Canadian projects have enjoyed Canadian federal support, Westinghouse is a bona fide nuclear reactor vendor that has actually built plants based on the AP1000. If there’s a serious prospect that Poland will actually build a major nuclear plant, and Canada can help a Canadian company win the contract, then Canada should, for three reasons.
First, it would put European energy on the right track, after decades of disastrous German leadership that seriously impaired the Continent’s progress toward both emissions reductions and democratic development. A nuclear Poland, based on a strong western technology brand, would reassert competent energy leadership based on the proven French model. Together with France, the UK, and Finland, a civilian-nuclear Poland would be a sign of growing civilian atomic momentum in the North Atlantic community.
Second, it would further cement Cameco’s growing position of leadership in global nuclear power. That’s good for Canada and good for the world.
Finally, building new nuclear in Central and Eastern Europe is an absolute geopolitical necessity, vital for global security in terms of both armed conflict and climate change. Canadian federal dollars for a nuclear power project in Poland might not count toward Canada’s NATO contribution, but definitely is in the spirit of the North Atlantic Alliance. On the environmental front, Poland’s grid is mostly coal-fired. As we mentioned in the Fall 2024 edition of the Newsletter, Poland’s residential heating baseload is roughly 4,500 MW, met today mostly with gas and some fuel oil. It’s high time that demand was met with non-emitting, non-Rosatom electricity generation. Electrification on that basis is good geopolitics.
We wondered in the Fall 2024 edition of the CNWC Newsletter about the location of Poland’s first nuclear plant. A Power Technology article had said it would be at a site “close to the Baltic.” The Westinghouse press release names the site: Lubiatowo-Kopalino in Pomerania, northwest of Gdansk, indeed close to the Baltic.
Our position in the CNWC Newsletter has long been very pro-CANDU. It still is. Ontario should base any new nuclear build on CANDU, and the feds, through AECL, which owns the IP rights to the technology, should provide a reasonable level of support. But Poland is not Ontario, and Poland appears to want LWR for its first nuke. Westinghouse is a Canadian company. We support EDC’s support. Good luck in Poland, Westinghouse.
