What’s going on?
Westinghouse Electric, an American manufacturer of nuclear power plant equipment, announced this week that it’s being bought in a deal worth nearly $8 billion.
What does this mean?
Nuclear’s been the black sheep of the energy family for years, not least because safety concerns and overruns in high-profile projects have scared investors off. But mounting worries over climate change and the security of energy during war have made the nuclear industry – capable of producing carbon-free power every hour of the day, no matter the weather – a lot more appealing.
That’s not the only good news for Westinghouse Electric: the US company, which makes the tech used in half of the world’s nuclear reactors, has just been bought by Brookfield Renewable Partners (one of world’s biggest clean energy investors) and Cameco (North America’s biggest uranium miner) in a deal worth a tidy $8 billion. Not too shabby for a company that only emerged from bankruptcy four years ago…
Why should I care?
Zooming in: Opportunities aplenty.
The future is full of promise for Westinghouse. The West is being pushed to find new suppliers for over 30 reactors that currently use Russian technology – a plum opportunity for the American firm to ply its trade. On top of that, the European Union declared nuclear power investments climate-friendly earlier this month, while the International Energy Agency has said nuclear energy production needs to double by 2050 to hit net-zero targets. No wonder some analysts think the industry’s on the cusp of a price boom that could rival the flush days of the 1970s oil crisis.
The bigger picture: Keep your fingers crossed.
The price of uranium is reflecting the world’s zest for nuclear power: the metal hit over $50 a pound last month, and Bank of America estimates it could break $70 next year. Still, these outlooks are fragile: another nuclear accident could send the industry back to square one – a real risk given that war-torn Ukraine houses 15 reactors.
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Originally Posted October 12, 2022 – The World’s Going Nuclear
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