U.S.: an $80 billion agreement for new nuclear reactors

The Government of the United States has signed an ambitious agreement with the owners of Vestinghaus Electric, the aim of which is to build nuclear reactors worth at least $80 billion. This initiative represents one of the boldest plans and the most serious investments in the American nuclear energy sector in the last few decades

Partnership, formed with the companies Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management, owners of Westinghouse Electric, comes at a time when the growth of electricity consumption by data centers for artificial intelligence (AI) is raising American demand for power for the first time in the last two decades, creating significant pressure on the power grid.

Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. government will take on a significant role, promising to organize project financing and help secure licenses for Westinghouse reactors, including the AP1000 and small modular reactors.

In return, the plan offers the U.S. government a 20% stake in future profits after Vestinghaus pays Cameco and Brookfield 17.5 billion dollars in profit. The government has the option to convert that profit into an equity stake of up to 20% and can require Westinghouse to go public (IPO) by 2029, if its value exceeds 30 billion dollars, as precisely stated by anewz.tv.

The international dimension is also extremely strong. President Trump announced in Tokyo that Japan will provide support of up to 332 billion dollars for American infrastructure, including the construction of nuclear reactors. Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba and IHI could be involved in the construction of Westinghouse reactors worth up to 100 billion dollars.

Challenges and criticisms

Despite the big momentum, it remains uncertain whether such a plan will materialize. Reuters and anewz.tv remind that the construction of new nuclear reactors in the U.S. has always been a difficult challenge due to astronomical cost growth and public concerns.

The latest example are the Vogtle reactors in Georgia, which were completed in 2023 and 2024 with seven years of delays and cost about $35 billion, which is far more than double the original estimate of $14 billion.

An additional concern is raised by the executive order of President Trump in May, which directed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reduce regulations and accelerate license issuance for new reactors, with the aim of shortening this multi-year process to just 18 months and to begin construction of 10 new large reactors by 2030.

But despite the economic and regulatory difficulties, the nuclear sector is experiencing an unexpected revival, led by the needs of providers serving artificial intelligence operations.

Tech giants, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon, have already signed contracts to procure energy from next-generation nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors and fusion, which we regularly report on and write about. This trend indicates that, although it faces historical cost and regulatory challenges, nuclear energy is becoming strategically essential to meet the exponentially growing demand for reliable and low-carbon energy demanded by the era of artificial intelligence.