Feds in $80 billion Partnership with Westinghouse to Build AP1000s
Posted on October 28, 2025 by djysrv
Feds in $80 billion Partnership with Westinghouse to Build AP1000s
Google Agrees Deal To Reopen Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant
This report was updated at 3:14 PM eastern time on 10/28/25 to add information in financial terms and conditons of the Westinghouse deal and to add information on Google’s PPA with NextEra to restart the Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant in Iowa.
Feds in $80 billion Partnership with Westinghouse to Build AP1000s
United States Government, Brookfield and Cameco Announce Transformational Partnership to Deliver Long-term Value Using Westinghouse Nuclear Reactor Technology
At least $80 billion is on the table to construct new Westinghouse nuclear power reactors
Partnership will accelerate nuclear power and artificial intelligence deployment in America
Westinghouse Electric Company, Cameco Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management announced that the Federal government has entered into a strategic partnership to accelerate the deployment of nuclear power.
At the center of the new strategic partnership, at least $80 billion of new reactors will be constructed across the United States using Westinghouse nuclear reactor technology. These new reactors, 1,150 MW AP1000s, will reinvigorate the nuclear power industrial base.
The press statement claimed that, “As a result of this historic agreement, nuclear energy deployment will be a central pillar of America’s program to maintain global leadership in nuclear power development and Artificial Intelligence.”
According to press reports, Japan signed off this week on $550 billion in trade deals with the US of which $100 billion was for nuclear energy projects involving Westinghouse and GE-Verona. Details were sparse, but the assumption is that the deals would involve Japan’s nuclear heavy industry firms such as Mitsubishi and others as suppliers of components for US reactor projects.
Trade Groups Praise the Announcement
The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), an inside the beltway trade group that represents the US nuclear industry, praised the announcemnt. It said an emailed statement, ” The strategic partnership with the U.S. government is a new model for our industry and will create opportunities not only for Westinghouse, Cameco and Brookfield but the entire nuclear supply chain.”
The US Nuclear Industry Council (USNIC) also announced its support for the Westinghouse deal with the government. In a press statement it said, “The projects born of this partnership will demonstrate that advanced nuclear technology can be delivered on time and on budget—strengthening U.S. leadership in clean energy exports and ensuring America is prepared to meet rising energy demand.”
Financial Terms and Conditions
World Nuclear News reports that the companies have entered into a binding term sheet with the US Department of Commerce to establish the partnership, which they say is expected to accelerate the global deployment of Westinghouse’s nuclear reactor technologies and reinvigorate supply chains and the nuclear power industrial base in the USA and abroad.
In an unusual arrangement, the government is expected to take a 20% equity stake in the project suggesting that a quasi government corporation may be the management vehicle for the overall project. The partnership reportedly contains profit sharing mechanisms that provide for all parties.
The agreement provides for the government to arrange financing and facilitate the permitting and approvals for new Westinghouse nuclear reactors to be built in the USA, with an aggregate investment value of at least $80 billion, including near-term financing of long lead time items.
Upon closing of the transaction, and with financing facilitated by the US Government, Westinghouse “plans to commence project execution and initiate orders for critical equipment with long lead times, which is expected to leverage the nuclear industry supply chains that were established during the construction of Vogtle units 3 and 4.”
Under the partnership agreement, the government will be entitled to receive 20% of any cash distributions in excess of $17.5 billion made by Westinghouse, This will take place once the government has made a final investment decision and entered into definitive agreements to complete the construction of new Westinghouse nuclear reactors in the USA with an aggregate value of at least $80 billion.
Separately, to deal with the enormous risk of a program of this size, it would not come as a surprise if Brookfield / Camerco cashed out their interest in Westinghouse via an IPO. While they might continue to hold some of the stock in a minority equity interest, the rest of their assets would no longer be at risk.
Howard Lutnick, Secretary for the United States Department of Commerce, said:
“Our administration is focused on ensuring the rapid development, deployment, and use of advanced nuclear technologies. This historic partnership supports our national security objectives and enhances our critical infrastructure.
“The partnership will facilitate the growth and future of the American nuclear power industry and the supporting supply chain. According to the press statement, each two-unit Westinghouse AP1000 project creates or sustains 45,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs in 43 states, and a national deployment will create more than 100,000 construction jobs.”
It is expected that heavy industry firms in South Korea and Japan will be key suppliers of reactor components for this massive program. US supply chain firms will benefit and, specifically, the Westinghouse nuclear fuel fabrication plant in South Carolina just got a promise of at least 80 years of production for the new fleet.
Implications of the Announcement
The first challenge that the government faces is getting Congress to appropriate $80 billion. If the program is approved, the funds will likely be doled out as new projects are licensed by the NRC. Assuming economies of scale can be achieved with a build of this sizes, $80 billion could deliver 10 AP1000s at $8 billion each.
Unmentioned in the press statement is where the reactors will be built and what role current publicly traded electric utilities will play in the deployment of the reactors. Every CEO at these firms is now scrambling to figure out what costs the new reactors would impose on their operations.
It does not appear that any of the major nuclear utilities were consulted and are onboard. How ready are any of them for the government to drop a twin set of AP1000s in their laps? Was there any thought given to site selection and acceptance before inking this deal? If I were a utility CEO my first question is who wants this and how much would it cost me to have two of these units built next to one of my existing reactors? How many sites are ready to take two AP1000s and how many sets will require greenfield locations?
Given the restart working taking place at Constellation, Duane Arnold, Palisades, and V C Summer, one option for CEO’s at publicly traded utilities may be, under the umbrella of requirements to be “prudent investors,” is to wait to see if these four projects actually are completed and result in revenue for these utilities.
FERC will need to figure out how fast it can approve new grid capacity. Given its seemingly intractable backlog of applications, red tape could be the biggest impediment to success of this massive undertaking.
How many EPC firms will be needed to build the reactors and how will the government conduct oversight of their work to insure project controls keep the new builds on schedule and within budget. DOE’s staffing in key offices has been shredded by layoffs so who’s going to mind the store?
This is a very big promise. It remains to be seen on how its potential will be delivered.
There are two major efforts already underway to build AP1000s in the US. The first is the very recently announced effort by Santee-Cooper to complete the twin AP1000s at the V C Summer plant in South Carolina. The other is the ambitious plan by FERM America to build four AP1000s in Amarillo, TX.
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Google in Deal To Reopen Duane Arnold Nuclear Plant
NextEra has agreed to commit at least $1.6 billion to reopen the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa based on an offer from Google to buy power from it for the next 25 years. Google wants the power from the plant to power its data centers in Iowa. The 615 MW plant is expected to begin revenue services by 2029 according to NextEra. As part of the restart, NextEra will have to relicense the plant with the NRC.
The reactor was shut down five years ago after a combination of factors convinced the plant’s owners to shut it down. The first was that the plant was not profitable. Second, a storm severely damaged the cooling towers. The combination of these effects convinced the utility to throw in the towel.
It is the third US nuclear plant to begin the process of restarting operations. Google’s with NextEra follows the business case of a deal between Microsoft and Constellation Energy. The Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania is expected to reopen in 2028.
The Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan is scheduled to be the first fully decommissioned US nuclear power plant to reopen later this year. Holtec’s progress has been sufficient that it received its first shipment of new fuel for the plant this month. The loading of the fuel into the reactor will take place at a later date following approval by the NRC.
In a press statement Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google said, “This partnership serves as a model for the investments needed across the country to build energy capacity and deliver reliable, clean power, while protecting affordability and creating jobs that will drive the AI-driven economy.”
Porat also said in her media statement that Google is open to “explore opportunities” with with NextEra to build new nuclear power generation capacity.
NextEra service areas for electricity generation are primarily in the northeast and midwestern sites east of the Mississippi.
In addition to Google’s 25-year agreement to purchase carbon-free nuclear energy from the Duane Arnold plant, one of the plant’s current minority owners, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), will purchase the remaining portion of the plant’s output on the same terms as Google.
NextEra Energy has signed definitive agreements to acquire CIPCO and Corn Belt Power Cooperative’s combined 30% interest in the plant, which will bring NextEra Energy’s ownership to 100%.
Other Nuclear Fission and Fusion Investments by Google
World Nuclear News reports that the announcement is not Google’s first invetment in the nuclear energy space. In 2024 the company signed an agreement with Kairos Power to purchase power from its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature small modular reactors (SMRs).
It recently announced a collaboration with Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority in a power purchase agreement (PPA) that will take output from Kairos Power’s Hermes 2 demonstration reactor deliver power to the grid for Google’s data centers.
Separately, Google signed an investment and offtake agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems for power from its first ARC commercial fusion plant which is to be built in Virginia, as well providing early-stage capital for Elementl Power to prepare potential sites for advanced nuclear power projects in the USA.
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