How Serious Is Poland About Building a Nuclear Future? 

Nearly two decades after Poland set its sight on obtaining atomic energy, the government in Warsaw picked two separate foreign partners within three days to build its first nuclear power plants. The sudden rush in deal-making and unexpected changes of plans are prompting questions about how serious the government is about the endeavor that was meant to reduce the economy’s reliance on coal. The prospect of general elections late next year is further complicating the picture.

The European Union’s largest eastern economy relies on coal for more than 70% of its electricity generation and needs to exit the dirty fuel by 2050 to meet the bloc’s climate goals. Nuclear power is seen as Warsaw’s best bet for clean and stable energy that would replace aging coal plants without relying on weather-dependent wind and solar.