The revival of nuclear power puts Westinghouse at the forefront

The big investment firm and Canadian uranium mining and enrichment company bought Westinghouse, an energy company that had fallen on hard times, three years ago with a big bet on nuclear power. Now that bet is proving prescient.

Growing demand for electricity, fueled by data centers, and renewed bilateral and global interest in nuclear power have made Westinghouse a sought-after source of nuclear power technology.

Westinghouse’s importance in developing new nuclear plants gained international attention on Wednesday after the Trump administration announced a broad agreement with Saudi Arabia that could allow the country to enrich its own fuel for nuclear reactors.

Trump administration officials estimated the deal would provide billions of dollars to the U.S. nuclear industry — starting with Westinghouse, which developed the technology used in the only two reactors built in the United States in the past decade, both in Georgia. A version of Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors has also been built in China in recent years, and the AP1000 reactor was selected for projects in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Westinghouse regained its position after it was acquired in November 2023 by Brookfield Asset Management, a New York investment firm, and Cameco, a uranium mining and enrichment company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after failing to bring a new fleet of nuclear power plants online.

“More than half of the world’s existing nuclear reactors are based on Westinghouse technology, and today the company provides engineering products and services to the global nuclear market,” Westinghouse CEO Dan Sumner said in an interview Wednesday. “The foundation of our turnaround was built on the strength of this operational fleet business.”

After President Trump returned to office last year, his administration began pushing all types of nuclear development, including reviving shuttered plants and building Westinghouse AP1000 reactors and newer types, as well as some that are much smaller.

Last month, Chris Wright, Mr. Trump’s energy secretary, announced that the government would do just that lend up to $17.5 billion to help companies buy nuclear equipment that would accelerate the development of 10 large commercial nuclear reactors around the country.

Westinghouse welcomed the effort, saying it would help speed up the construction and commercial operation of new reactors by up to three years. But neither the government nor Westinghouse said where any of the 10 reactors would be built.

The United States leads the world in the total number of reactors and produces the largest amount of electricity from nuclear power plants. There are currently 96 nuclear reactors in 57 power plants, according to the Energy Information Office. Nuclear power produces about 20 percent of the country’s electricity, far more than coal, but about half as much as natural gas plants.

However, the United States has built only three new reactors since the 1990s. In contrast, China has been rapidly building reactors in recent decades and has plans for many more. It built reactors according to domestic designs and has more than a dozen AP1000 units online or under construction.

The so-called nuclear renaissance of the early 2000s was expected to bring nearly two dozen new reactors in the United States, but rising costs and delays resulted in only two units, both AP1000 reactors.

The two units — built next to existing nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Plant in Waynesboro, Ga., near Augusta — cost its owner, the Southern Company, $35 billion, more than double original estimates. Much of that cost ended up being borne by individuals and businesses who are customers of the Southern Georgia Power subsidiary.

The staggering price tag has led many energy experts to dismiss the prospect of the United States building any more large reactors. The focus of the nuclear power industry has turned to smaller blocks, which plant developers have said they can design and manufacture almost on assembly lines. Such reactors are often referred to as small modular reactors.

The idea for such reactors was inspired by nuclear powered submarines. But these reactors use a more enriched form of uranium than the kind used in larger power plants. So nuclear power plant developers, including Westinghouse and GE’s Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, have been working for years to develop a small reactor design that they could commercialize.

Government support for nuclear power is expected to play a major role in the construction of reactors in the United States and elsewhere. Some power plant developers who already had licenses to build reactors but did not use them are trying to revive their construction plans.

Among them is the VC Summer Nuclear Station near Columbia. SC It was the only other AP1000 project in the United States that was significantly advanced in construction.

But the effort to build these blocks led to the sale of the power company SCANA. Utility customers and other utilities that had invested in the project were forced to pay $9 billion in construction costs, although the project was not completed.