The US spends tens of billions of dollars on nuclear energy.

VTV.vn - The US spends 80 billion USD to build the Westinghouse nuclear power plant, aiming for 10 new reactors before 2030.

A Westinghouse nuclear power plant. (Photo: connectcre)

The Trump administration's plan to spend tens of billions of dollars on Westinghouse nuclear power plants could turn the utility into a standalone publicly traded company with the U.S. government as its majority shareholder.

The US Commerce Department last week signed an agreement with Westinghouse owners Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management to spend $80 billion to build the company's nuclear power plants across the US.

Under the deal, the US government is granted ownership stakes in Westinghouse and could seek an initial public offering (IPO) by or before January 2029, if the company's value rises to $30 billion or more.

CNBC quoted Cameco CEO Grant Isaac as saying on the third-quarter earnings call on November 5 that in this scenario, the US government could become an 8% shareholder in Westinghouse. Under the agreement, the government would not own shares in Cameco or Brookfield, and Cameco would consider spinning off Westinghouse as an independent company in 2029 depending on the circumstances.

The government’s interest in Westinghouse will only come into effect if the government makes a final investment decision, signing firm agreements to build new reactors in the U.S., with a total value of $80 billion. Mr. Isaac said the U.S. government could use tools such as loans from the Department of Energy or grants from other sectors to finance the projects.

Westinghouse has designed a large, state-of-the-art nuclear reactor called the AP1000 that the Trump administration wants to deploy across the United States to meet rising electricity demand from data centers and manufacturing. The reactor generates 1 gigawatt of electricity, enough to power more than 750,000 homes.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May 2025 calling for the United States to begin building 10 new large nuclear reactors by 2030. Westinghouse CEO Dan Sumner said in July that the company would meet Trump's request with the AP1000 reactor.

However, Westinghouse has struggled to complete the AP1000 reactor on time and on budget, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 2017 due to cost overruns at major projects in Georgia and South Carolina.

The first two AP1000 reactors in the US are set to come online at Plant Vogtle, Georgia, in 2023 and 2024, but the South Carolina project has been canceled. Five years after Westinghouse emerged from bankruptcy, Brookfield and Cameco acquired the company in 2023.

Cameco is one of the world's largest uranium miners, while Brookfield is one of the largest investors in the energy sector. Brookfield and Cameco own 51% and 49% of Westinghouse, respectively.

Source: https://vtv.vn/my-chi-hang-chuc-ty-usd-vao-nang-luong-hat-nhan-100251106155207957.htm