Recently, Poland signed an agreement with Westinghouse to build the central European nation’s first nuclear power plant. Construction will begin in 2026, with the goal to provide power to the grid by 2032. Poland is also pursuing avenues to bring advanced nuclear to its borders by the end of the decade, signing agreements with small modular reactor developers NuScale and Last Energy. 

While it is encouraging to see American-made innovation being exported to allied nations, the United States is falling behind in the race to deploy nuclear energy technology. Prior to the construction of Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Georgia — expected to begin producing power this year — no new nuclear energy has been brought online in the United States in decades. Meanwhile, China approved six new reactor designs in 2022 alone and is planning to build at least 150 new reactors in the next 15 years. Following Poland’s example, there are several steps that the United States can take to speed up the deployment of nuclear power.