US aims to build $80bn worth of new nuclear power plants

The Lampson International LTL-2600 made 1,000-ton lifts at the Plant Vogtle jobsite in Burke County, GA.

Westinghouse Electric’s owners, Canada-based Cameco, which supplies uranium and nuclear fuel services, and Brookfield Asset Management, confirmed the strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of nuclear power in the US.

They said the move was in accordance with US President Donald Trump’s 23 May 2025 executive order that called for the construction of advanced nuclear reactors to power advanced computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).

Under the agreement, Westinghouse will deploy its AP1000 pressurised water reactors, capable of generating 1GW of electricity and its AP300 small modular reactors (SMRs).

The US government is expected to arrange financing and secure permits for the new nuclear plants in return for a 20% share of future profits, after Westinghouse has paid out profits of $17.5 billion to Brookfield and Cameco.

A national deployment of the reactors could generate 100,000 construction jobs, according to Brookfield.

Westinghouse would start project orders and initiate orders of critical equipment once the transaction is closed, and said it would leverage the nuclear industry supply chains established during the construction of the delayed Vogtle Units 3 and 4 in Burke County near Waynesboro in Georgia.

Units 3 and 4 began construction in 2009. Originally expected to be operation by 2016, Unit 3 was finally completed in 2023. The delays were partly down to the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011, which resulted in revisions to the AP1000 design certification.

After a series of contractor changes on the project, Westinghouse, then owned by Toshiba, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017, partly due to losses incurred on the Vogtle project. Toshiba sold Westinghouse’s holding company to Brookfield and its partners for $4.6 billion in 2018.

Dan Summer, interim CEO of Westinghouse, said, “Westinghouse is honoured to partner with the US government to meet this once in a generation opportunity to deliver nuclear power at scale in the United States and overseas. The AP1000 is ready to meet this mission, with a commercialized design, ready U.S. supply chain, highest capacity factor of any new reactor globally, and backed by cutting-edge AI tools that will transform construction into an efficient, repeatable process.”