Poland has chosen US group Westinghouse to build its first nuclear power plant, ahead of competing bids from France’s EDF and South Korea’s KHNP, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, as quoted by AFP.

“We confirm that our nuclear power project will use reliable and safe @WECNuclear technology,” he tweeted.

Morawiecki said that this decision will be officially approved at the Council of Ministers, which will be held in Warsaw on Wednesday.

“This is a huge step in strengthening our relationship with Poland for future generations,” said US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

She noted that Poland had chosen Westinghouse “for the first part of its $40 billion nuclear project,” without specifying the cost of that investment.

However, a senior US government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deal was worth “billions” of dollars and would create “thousands of high-paying jobs.”

“This is not just a commercial energy project, but how we define what I would call interdependent security for decades to come,” the official said.

Poland has been planning to create a civilian nuclear potential for years, and the issue of energy security has become more urgent due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Poland’s decision “sends an unequivocal signal to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin about the strength (…) of the American-Polish alliance,” the official continued.

The Polish government has said it wants the first nuclear power plant to be operational in 2033.