Westinghouse Electric Company announced its intention to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Dominance Financing on the American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans.
The program will enable investment in nuclear supply chains and accelerate deployment of new nuclear generation at scale in the United States.
EDF has announced a conditional commitment of $17.5B in obligated funds to finance the purchase of long-lead time items (LLI) for up to 10 Westinghouse AP1000® units, the only fully designed and licensed advanced commercial reactor operating in the United States today. Advance purchase of LLI is expected to accelerate project deployment timelines by up to three years and create significant supply chain efficiencies.
Leadership commentary on U.S. energy strategy
“America has always won when it thinks big and builds for the future. If we want to lead in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and the industries that will define the next century – we need more American baseload energy. This means building industrialized nuclear power at fleet scale, creating long-term economic growth, thousands of high-quality jobs, strengthening supply chains and revitalizing communities,” said Westinghouse CEO Dan Sumner. “We thank the Administration and the Department of Energy for their commitment and leadership on this strategic initiative.”
Project partnerships and development pipeline
Westinghouse will partner with up to five eligible utilities or energy companies to procure LLI for projects with two reactors each and has signed Letters of Intent with seven potential partners with identified sites.
While this conditional commitment from EDF indicates the Department’s intent to provide a loan to finance the projects, DOE and Westinghouse must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the Department enters into definitive financing documents and funds the loan. Additional details are available here.
AP1000 Reactor technology and global deployment
The advanced AP1000 reactor is the only operating Generation III+ reactor with fully passive safety systems, modular construction design and the smallest footprint per MWe on the market. There are six AP1000 reactors currently setting operational performance and availability records worldwide with 14 additional reactors under construction and five more under contract. The AP1000 technology has been selected for nuclear energy programs in Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria, and is also under consideration at multiple other sites in Europe, the Middle East and North America.
Westinghouse Electric Company is the future of energy, providing reliable, innovative nuclear technologies and services globally. Westinghouse pioneered commercial nuclear power, delivering the world’s first commercial pressurized water reactor in 1957. The company has industrialized more nuclear reactors than any other company, with its technology forming the basis of half of the world's operating nuclear plants. More than 140 years of innovation makes Westinghouse the preferred partner for advanced technologies covering the complete nuclear energy life cycle.
