Westinghouse Electric Co. in Pittsburgh, along with its owners Cameco Corp. and Brookfield Asset Management, have forged a partnership with the United States government to construct at least $80-billion-worth of new reactors across the country that will use Westinghouse nuclear reactor technology.
Under the agreement — which aligns with the president’s May 23 executive orders — the new Westinghouse reactors will help reinvigorate the nuclear power industrial base in America, sources said Tuesday.
“Pittsburgh-based @westinghouse is a global leader in nuclear technology,” U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) tweeted Oct. 28 on X. “The partnership … involving at least $80 billion of new reactors to accelerate the deployment of nuclear power is critical to achieving America’s goals for energy dominance and AI leadership.”
The senator also pointed out that Westinghouse and Brookfield pledged to rebuild America’s nuclear base during the July 15 inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
“As our inaugural Energy & Innovation Summit showcased, there’s no better place than Pennsylvania to lead the next revolution in energy, technology, and AI,” tweeted McCormick.
Under the agreement with Westinghouse, Cameco, and Brookfield Asset Management, the U.S. government will arrange financing and help secure permits for the plants that will use Westinghouse reactors.
In return, the U.S. government would be granted a participation interest that, once vested, would allow it to get 20 percent of any cash distributions in excess of $17.5 billion made by Westinghouse, according to the companies’ statement.
“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,” said U.S. Energy Department Secretary Chris Wright. “President Trump promised a renaissance of nuclear power, and now he is delivering.”
As part of the partnership, the to-be-constructed nuclear reactors will use Westinghouse technology to generate reliable and secure power, including for data centers and compute capacity for the growing AI sector.
Additionally, the partnership will facilitate the growth and future of the American nuclear power industry and the supporting supply chain.
“Our administration is focused on ensuring the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies,” said U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick. “This historic partnership supports our national security objectives and enhances our critical infrastructure.”
Each two-unit Westinghouse AP1000 reactor 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 companies said.
The AP1000 reactor is the most advanced reactor commercially available. There are six AP1000 reactors currently setting operational performance and availability records worldwide with 14 additional reactors under construction and five more under contract, said the companies.
Brookfield and Cameco, which formed a strategic partnership to acquire Westinghouse in October 2022, say the partnership brought together Cameco’s expertise in the nuclear industry and nuclear fuel supply chain with Brookfield’s recognized position as one of the world’s largest investors in energy generation technologies.
Brookfield initially acquired Westinghouse in 2018 and performed a successful turnaround to reposition the company to benefit from the resurgence in nuclear investment.
“Our highly successful partnership with Brookfield as owners of Westinghouse will be further strengthened through this collaboration with the U.S. government,” said Tim Gitzel, CEO of Cameco. “We expect this new partnership to support the global growth opportunities for both Westinghouse’s and Cameco’s nuclear products, services and technologies, adding significant long-term value for our stakeholders and enhancing energy, national and climate security around the world.”
Connor Teskey, president of Brookfield Asset Management, said the partnership with the U.S. government will help accelerate the growth of AI in the U.S. to meet growing electricity demand and energy security needs at scale.
“Brookfield has more than half-a-trillion dollars invested in the critical infrastructure that underpins the U.S. economy, and we expect to double that investment in the next decade as we deliver on building the infrastructure backbone of artificial intelligence,” said Teskey.