Westinghouse Electric Co. has joined with ownership groups Cameco Corp. and Brookfield Asset Management in a partnership that would advance deployment of nuclear power technology across the U.S.
The companies on October 28 said at least $80 billion of new reactors, primarily AP1000 units from Westinghouse, would be built at the behest of the U.S. government. Officials on Tuesday in a news release wrote that under the “historic agreement” the new reactors “will reinvigorate the nuclear power industrial base,” and would make nuclear energy “a central pillar of America’s program to maintain global leadership in nuclear power development and Artificial Intelligence (AI).”
Officials said the U.S. government will arrange financing and help secure permits for the Westinghouse reactors. The strategy offers the U.S. government a 20% share of future profits from the assets, after Westinghouse has paid out at least $17.5 billion to New York City-headquartered Brookfield and Canada-based Cameco. The companies said the U.S. government could turn those gains into an equity stake of up to 20%, and the deal also would require an initial public offering of Westinghouse stock by 2029 if the company’s value surpasses $30 billion.
The plan was announced Tuesday after President Trump, who is on a trip to Asia, said in Tokyo that Japan will provide up to $332 billion to support U.S. infrastructure projects. The investment would include construction of Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, and also small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs.
“Our administration is focused on ensuring the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies. This historic partnership supports our national security objectives and enhances our critical infrastructure,” said Howard Lutnick, secretary for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce.”Together with Westinghouse we will unleash American energy.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, “This historic partnership with America’s leading nuclear company will help unleash President Trump’s grand vision to fully energize America and win the global AI race. President Trump promised a renaissance of nuclear power, and now he is delivering.”
Future Nuclear Growth
Officials on Tuesday said the partnership will support future growth in U.S. nuclear power, along with the equipment supply chain. The companies in announcing the agreement said, “Each two-unit Westinghouse AP1000 project creates or sustains 45,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs in 43 states, and a national deployment will create more than 100,000 construction jobs. The program will cement the United States as one of the world’s nuclear energy powerhouses and increase exports of Westinghouse’s nuclear power generation technology globally.”
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How many AP1000 reactors can they build with $80 billion? I would say 4 reactors at $20 billion each.
Look at the the number of manufacturing and engineering jobs (45,000) and construction jobs(100,000) for just 2 reactors. Double those jobs for 4 reactors. These numbers are huge and costly.
Read the whole article about the manufacturing, construction and financing.