Nuclear investments are very expensive and long-lasting, which poses serious challenges and risks, including cost overruns. Hence, the priority declared by Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe is the implementation of the investment within the assumed time and budget.
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The first Polish nuclear power plant will cost PLN 192 billion, of which approximately PLN 60 billion will be provided by the state budget, and the rest will have to be borrowed. The financial arrangements for this investment are currently being prepared.
Taking into account the amounts declared by foreign export credit agencies, mainly the American Exim Bank, there is still approximately PLN 20-30 billion missing for this purpose, which is to be borrowed by Polish and foreign banks.
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The Polish government is planning a different financing model for the second large nuclear power plant, to be built in Bełchatów or Konin. The Polish side expects that the strategic partner of this investment will not only provide nuclear technology, but also engage in capital. SMRs are to be financed in an even different way – they will not be government investments, but implemented by business or local governments.
— The long implementation period and numerous risks make it impossible to imagine financing large-scale nuclear energy without state support. Poland has chosen the contract for difference model, which provides a state guarantee for the purchase of electricity produced at a fixed price, says Marek Niedużak, director for Poland of the think tank European Initiative for Energy Security, to Business Insider Polska.
— Moreover, the involvement of export credit agencies or other similar financial development institutions plays a huge role in obtaining debt. By offering their guarantees, they significantly reduce financing costs and attract private lenders, he adds.
As for SMRs, – in his opinion – there is a chance that in their case it would be possible to obtain debt on market principles.
— SMRs should be a response to the demand for a domestic, emission-free and stable energy source from specific enterprises, for example from the energy-intensive industry or data centers, or to the demand for heat from municipal heating. In such a situation, the involvement of energy buyers and the conclusion of off-take agreements could constitute security for providing traditional financing, says Marek Niedużak.
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President of Polish Nuclear Power Plants Marek Woszczyk at the conference “Atom – prospects and participation of the Polish industry”, November 2025
What will be the price of nuclear electricity?
Any day now, the Polish government expects the European Commission to consent to state aid for the first Polish nuclear power plant. The terms of this consent will be important for the price of electricity from the future nuclear power plant.
As Business Insider Polska says, prof. Łukasz Bartela of the Silesian University of Technology, the competitiveness of the national economy depends to the greatest extent on energy prices, which significantly determine the condition of the industry.
As he notes, “unfortunately” these costs do not depend solely on the costs of construction and operation of a given energy source.
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— An important role, especially in the case of investments with high capital involvement, is played by the costs of obtaining capital, which in turn are a derivative of regulatory, political and executive risk. We clearly identify these risks in the area of nuclear investments. They manifest themselves, among others: in the uncertainty related to the role that nuclear units will play in the future mix of generation sources – explains the expert.
The point is, he explains, “whether they will, in accordance with common sense, work on the basis of energy demand, obtaining high values of power utilization indicators, or whether, as indicated in the current case law of the European Commission (Dukovany II project, opening decision for the National Power Plant), will they act as systems balancing the national energy system (NES)”.
– Such prioritizing renewable energy sources may lead to production costs exceeding PLN 2,000 for each megawatt hour produced, which may significantly undermine trust not so much in the selected business model for investment projects, but also in nuclear investments in general.. There is undoubtedly a need for a debate on models of financing national investments. Without it, we may reach a dead end in which a transformation based on ideology will inevitably push us towards economic catastrophe – says the expert.
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The first Polish nuclear power plant will be built in Lubiatów-Kopalina in Pomerania
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MATEUSZ SLODKOWSKI / FotoNews / Forum / Forum Polish Photographers Agency
Where to get fuel for nuclear power plants?
According to the Ministry of Energy, the International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that Poland has a total of approx. 100,000. tons of natural uranium (so-called projected resources).
— This is a significant amount when considering the construction of nuclear power plants in our country. Identified resources are smaller. In this case, it is about 7 thousand. tons of uranium. The nuclear power plant planned in Poland is to have two or three reactors with a total capacity of at least 3,000 MW. Using identified domestic uranium resources would allow energy production for approximately 56 years – says the ministry. Today, however, Poland does not mine uranium.
However, as nuclear energy expert Maciej Lipka from Nuclear PL tells Business Insider Polska, nuclear fuel – both fresh supply and management of spent fuel – is one of the smaller challenges in the investment process related to the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.
— Fresh fuel can be contracted from various entities, regardless of what type of reactor will be operated. The latest example is energy companies from Slovakia and Hungary, which use Russian VVER reactors and order fuel from France. The situation is similar with fuel cycle services, which can be contracted with various entities from Europe or the USA, or with uranium itself, which can come from stable democratic countries such as Canada or Australia. It is also important that nuclear fuel, unlike fossil fuels, can be stored at power plants for years, explains Maciej Lipka.
However, Adam Błażowski, president of the ecological association WePlanet, emphasizes in an interview with Business Insider Polska that the cost of nuclear fuel is a relatively small component of the price of nuclear energy, which helps mitigate fluctuations in raw material prices, which, for example, we experienced after 2022, when the energy crisis occurred.
– Additionally, Unlike gas, nuclear fuel can be easily and cheaply stored even for many years, and its production and sale is carried out by several NATO allied countries – he points out.
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What to do with spent nuclear fuel?
Adam Błażowski, when asked whether nuclear waste is a cause for concern, assures that “the nuclear industry is able to safely isolate waste generated during its activities from the environment“.
— Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about other energy industries, especially those related to the combustion of fossil fuels. We should look at these issues holistically: produce electricity in such a way that our impact on the environment is as small as possible. Recent decisions of the European Union, including: including the atom on the list of green technologies seems to follow this line of thinking, and this is what pragmatic ecology is, says Błażowski.
Maciej Lipka also argues that Nuclear fuel storage and storage “is a fully solved engineering issue“.
— A nuclear unit with a capacity of approximately 1 GW generates four truckloads of spent fuel during each fuel campaign (approximately every year or year and a half). Initially, it is cooled in special pools at the power plant, and then goes to dry storage. It is a matter of state policy whether they will be located at the power plants or in one national location. It can be safely stored there for decades, which means that Poland still has plenty of time to build the final landfill for waste. At the same time, the money for them will be collected from the first kilowatt-hour generated in the power plant and collected in a special earmarked fund, the expert describes.
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The growing demand for electricity is to be met by renewable sources, nuclear and gas
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Yuri Hoyda / Shutterstock
Will disinformation affect public support for nuclear energy in Poland?
The development of nuclear energy in Poland is based on a record-breaking rate in Europe – reaching over 92%. — public support for these investments. This data was presented by the government a year ago. Due to the geopolitical situation and the related wave of disinformation, for which Russia is largely responsible, there is a risk of a change in public sentiment on this issue..
The Ministry of Energy is aware of this and is taking further actions against disinformation in the energy sector, including nuclear energy.
In November, inaugurating the educational campaign on nuclear energy, whose face is Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Minister of Energy Miłosz Motyka emphasized that the scope of the energy transformation does not result from anyone's whim, but from investment, technological, economic and scientific needs.
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In this context, he drew attention to information threats – a few weeks earlier, the ministry launched an action against disinformation in the field of energy, including nuclear energy. — Today, the energy industry is on the front line of the fight for truth, which is under threat, also in the field of disinformation.. We will talk about the need to invest in nuclear energy, which is safe, good for the environment, creates new jobs with a low-emission economy and is an opportunity for our homeland to build new, stable power for years – emphasized Miłosz Motyka.
As he noted, today support for the construction of a nuclear power plant is very high – at the level of 92%. — We are aware that this may only be a phase, that there will be forces that will continue to strive to make Poland dependent on itself in terms of energy resources. Poland must be technologically and energy independent. And that is why high support for the process of building the power plant and the entire process related to nuclear energy in Poland is needed and should be taken care of, he emphasized.
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The current geopolitical situation is therefore an additional challenge for investments in nuclear power plants in Poland.
Of the above-mentioned challenges, the greatest is disinformation, which may undermine public support for nuclear development in Poland. The remaining ones are dealt with by a number of countries that already have nuclear power plants and are investing in new ones, including Poland's neighbors such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Meanwhile, Poland has already abandoned the investment in the nuclear power plant in Żarnowiec, which was facilitated by public sentiment towards this investment. Russia, which wants to return to gas trade with Europe, will probably not hesitate to use any means to combat a source that is competitive with the blue fuel, namely nuclear energy.
