Westinghouse Electric Company is in discussions with US officials and industry partners regarding the deployment of ten large nuclear reactors, reported Financial Times. This initiative follows US President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at revitalising American nuclear energy.
As a prominent nuclear developer based in Pennsylvania, Westinghouse is among the few Western firms capable of designing and constructing large reactors, each with a capacity of approximately 1,000MW, sufficient to power over 500,000 homes.
Westinghouse, jointly owned by Brookfield and Cameco, has successfully deployed its AP1000 reactor in various locations across the US and China, with additional plants under construction or contracted in Poland, China, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.
The executive orders, issued last month, propose a fourfold increase in nuclear energy capacity in the US by 2050. They include initiating work on ten large reactors by 2030 and expediting regulatory approvals. This has prompted developers and utilities to accelerate their plans to capitalise on potential federal incentives.
The Department of Energy estimates that constructing ten large nuclear reactors could cost $75bn, excluding potential delays or cost overruns, according to TD Cowen, an investment bank.
Westinghouse’s interim chief executive Dan Sumner told the publication the company is “uniquely positioned” to fulfil the President’s agenda due to its approved reactor design, viable supply chain, and recent experience constructing two AP1000 reactors in Georgia. Sumner emphasised active engagement with the administration, including key interactions with the loan programmes office, acknowledging the significance of financing for model deployment.
Recent delays and cost overruns in constructing two AP1000 reactors at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear power plant have dampened enthusiasm among U.S. utilities for large reactors. However, Sumner noted that challenges encountered during the AP1000 projects in Georgia have been resolved through experiences in the US and China.
Despite these developments, it remains uncertain whether utilities and technology companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are willing to invest the substantial funds required to initiate large-scale nuclear plant construction in the US. Meanwhile, SMR developers are in talks with US officials and utilities about co-locating multiple reactors on a single site to achieve similar generation capacity with reduced construction risks. NuScale, with an SMR design approved by US regulators, mentioned its capability to deploy 12 reactor modules to support a plant with 924MW capacity.
