Companies in the United States and Canada said this week they have agreed to a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy in hopes of speeding development of $80 billion worth of Westinghouse Electric reactor technology.
The nuclear power construction program was announced by Westinghouse, Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management along with the U.S. government. Westinghouse is one of the oldest names in U.S. nuclear circles. Cameco is a Canada-based uranium supplier and Brookfield is a Canadian-American asset manager.
The latter two companies are majority stakeholders in Westinghouse.
Once built, the Westinghouse AP 1000 reactors should help secure the electric supply for new artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, according to a joint Oct. 28 press release, The companies said the partnership responds to President Donald Trump’s May executive orders seeking to dramatically expand U.S. nuclear power generation.
“The partnership contains profit sharing mechanisms that provide for all parties, including the American people, once certain thresholds are met,” according to the release.
“This partnership embodies the bold vision of President Trump – to rebuild our energy sovereignty, create high-paying jobs, and drive America to the forefront of the nuclear renaissance,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in the release.
“Our highly successful partnership with Brookfield as owners of Westinghouse will be further strengthened through this collaboration with the U.S. Government,” said Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel.
In its own press release, Cameco said the U.S. would receive “a participation interest” that once vested will be entitled to receive “ 20% of any cash distributions” above $17.5 (US) billion, made by Westinghouse after various conditions are met.
“For the participation interest to vest, the US Government must make a final investment decision and enter into definitive agreements to complete the construction of new Westinghouse nuclear reactors in the US with an aggregate value of at least US$80 billion,” according to the Cameco release.
There is also a provision where Westinghouse Electric could be spun off into a publicly-traded company, via an initial public offering in 2029.