Westinghouse hopes to start construction of 10 new AP1000 reactors by 2030, the company’s interim CEO Dan Sumner said at a conference in Pittsburgh this week.
At the first-ever Pennsylvania Energy Summit and Expo, hosted by Sen. David McCormick (R-Pa.), Sumner said Westinghouse is reacting to President Donald Trump’s executive order and partnering with companies across the nation to deploy 10 of its AP1000 reactors.
Trump, who was at the summit, congratulated Westinghouse and its efforts to deploy new reactors in the United States. Along with Trump, state gov. Josh Shapiro (D), Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum appeared at the summit.
“I signed historic executive orders to expedite construction of brand new nuclear power plants, which is very hot,” Trump said. “We’ve issued an order, as you probably know, one month ago making it very easy and very safe to build nuclear power.”
With Westinghouse’s goal to have 10 reactors under construction by 2030, Sumner thinks Westinghouse will drive $75 billion of economic value across the United States, with $6 billion of the value allocated to Pennsylvania. Sumner hopes the company’s nuclear buildout will create or sustain thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania and nationally.
At the summit, officials said an investment of $90 billion and tens of thousands of new jobs were expected in Pennsylvania. Westinghouse is headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pa.
During the conference, Westinghouse did not reveal any proposed reactor locations.The company also announced it would collaborate with Google Cloud to use artificial intelligence tools to expedite reactor construction.