Global Nuclear Revival Positions Westinghouse at Center of New Reactor Build-Out

A major investment firm and a Canadian uranium producer bet on nuclear power three years ago by acquiring Westinghouse, a once-troubled energy giant. That gamble is now paying off handsomely.

Surging electricity demand from data centers, coupled with renewed bipartisan and international enthusiasm for nuclear energy, has transformed Westinghouse into a primary supplier of reactor technology.

The company’s pivotal role gained global attention this week after the Trump administration unveiled a broad agreement with Saudi Arabia potentially allowing the kingdom to enrich its own nuclear fuel.

Administration officials estimated the deal could channel billions into the U.S. nuclear sector, beginning with Westinghouse. The company designed the AP1000 reactors—the only two units constructed in the U.S. in the past decade, both at Georgia’s Plant Vogtle. Variants of the AP1000 are also operating in China and selected for projects across Eastern Europe.

Westinghouse stabilized after Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco acquired it in November 2023, rescuing it from a 2017 bankruptcy triggered by failed construction projects.

“Over half of the world’s operating reactors rely on Westinghouse technology, and today we deliver products and services across the global nuclear market,” CEO Dan Sumner said Wednesday. “Our turnaround is anchored by the strength of this installed fleet business.”

Since President Trump’s return to office, the administration has aggressively promoted nuclear development—from restarting shuttered plants to building new AP1000s, advanced designs, and small modular reactors (SMRs).

Last month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced up to $17.5 billion in federal loans to accelerate the deployment of 10 large commercial reactors nationwide.

Westinghouse welcomed the initiative, projecting it could advance construction and commercial timelines by up to three years, though neither the government nor the company has disclosed potential sites.

The U.S. operates the world’s largest reactor fleet—96 units at 57 plants generating roughly 20% of the nation’s electricity, per the EIA. That output trails only natural gas, surpassing coal.

Yet the U.S. has added just three reactors since the 1990s. China, by contrast, has rapidly expanded its fleet using both domestic designs and over a dozen AP1000 units online or underway.

An early-2000s “nuclear renaissance” projected nearly two dozen new U.S. reactors but yielded only two AP1000s at Vogtle.

Those units cost Southern Company $35 billion—double initial estimates—with Georgia Power customers absorbing much of the overrun.

The staggering cost dampened expectations for further large-scale builds, shifting industry focus toward small modular reactors (SMRs) touted as factory-fabricated and cheaper.

Inspired by naval propulsion, SMR designs typically require higher-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Developers like Westinghouse and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy have spent years commercializing viable designs.

Government backing remains essential for new construction domestically and abroad. Some license-holders are now reviving dormant plans.

Among them is the V.C. Summer station in South Carolina, the only other U.S. AP1000 project to reach advanced construction.

That project drove utility SCANA into bankruptcy amid soaring costs, leaving ratepayers liable for $9 billion on an unfinished plant.

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