Poland’s first nuclear power plant will not meet its 2033 startup target, with the government’s own watchdog exposing systemic failures in planning, financing and oversight that have pushed completion to at least 2035.

A report published on Oct. 16 by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) found that the 2020 Polish Nuclear Energy Program and the 2021 Energy Policy of Poland to 2040 lacked clear assignments for Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe (PEJ) and the government’s infrastructure envoy, creating a decision-making system that “blurred” responsibilities. The audit also revealed that the Council of Ministers approved Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology in November 2022 before the financial model was ready, reversing the program’s stated sequence and leaving public funds exposed.

NIK criticized PEJ for spending 553.25 million złoty on external consultants between 2020 and 2024, with some contracts accepted based on invoices listing hours worked rather than signed delivery protocols. The watchdog also flagged the Engineering Services Contract with Westinghouse and Bechtel, signed in September 2023, for terms that favored the contractors over the Polish investor and excluded standard civil-law protections for PEJ.

The report further noted that PEJ marginalized the input of the Prosecutor General’s Office, which had raised legal concerns about the contract, and that the company’s rapid staff expansion to 430 employees by mid-2024 lacked a justified structure tied to the project’s actual timeline. NIK concluded that the state failed to define how the project would be managed, financed or protected in dealings with contractors before committing to a technology partner.

PEJ has since secured an environmental decision and advanced design work, and the government obtained European Commission approval for state aid, but the audit warned that unresolved issues—such as risk allocation, documentation rights and dispute costs—could burden taxpayers with billions in additional expenses.