The US government is describing the initiative in military terms; AI data centres have been reclassified as ‘critical defence facilities’. And the primary, but non-exclusive, purpose of the reactors is to generate power for AI. A press statement by Westinghouse co-owner Broofield Asset Management reads: ‘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.’

It appears that the data centres and reactors will be built on federal government-owned land. Plans were first laid out in several May 2025 executive orders.

In July, the US government announced that four sites had been selected for this ‘data centre and energy infrastructure development’: the Idaho National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. All have a long nuclear heritage dating back to the Cold War; some were involved enrichment for nuclear weapons.  

The May executive order sets an ambitious target for the Secretary of Energy to expedite site preparation and authorisation to operate a reactor at the first site before the end of 2027.  

The pressurised water reactor (PWR) AP1000 reactor design has already been built and is now operating in the US (at Vogtle 3 and 4 in northern Georgia, and elsewhere in the world), but the AP300 reactor design, which is based on the AP1000, has yet to receive regulatory approval.  

According to Westinghouse co-owner Cameco, the agreement provides for the US government to arrange financing and facilitate the permitting and approvals for new Westinghouse nuclear reactors to be built in the US, including near-term financing of long lead time items.

It also says that the deal cuts in the US government to 20% of profits over $17.5bn made by Westinghouse, or a 20% stake of Westinghouse if it were to float on the stock market.

About that, co-owner Brookfield comments: ‘The partnership contains profit sharing mechanisms that provide for all parties, including the American people, once certain thresholds are met, to participate in the long-term financial and strategic value that will be created within Westinghouse by the growth of nuclear energy and advancement of investment into AI capabilities in the United States.’

It’s been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Westinghouse, which was brought out of bankruptcy by energy investor Brookfield in 2018. (Its previous parent was Toshiba Corporation of Japan.) Five years later, Canadian uranium fuel supplier Cameco took a 49% stake. In 2024, the company lost a tender to build AP1000s in the Czech Republic, but in summer 2025 it was selected for Poland’s first nuclear power plant.

The deal still requires regulatory review and definitive agreements from all parties.  

In unrelated news, TerraPower, the civil nuclear developer founded by Microsoft’s Bill Gates, has submitted its 345 MWe Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor design for review in the UK. In the US, the company has received a positive environmental impact statement from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Wyoming site planned to house the first unit, Kemmerer 1. It hopes to receive a final safety evaluation by the end of the year, after which it could start constructing nuclear-grade facilities. The plant is being developed by a public-private partnership, the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.