US and South Korea outline $120bn plan for six AP1000 and two APR1400 reactors
Victoria Shinder2 min readThe US Department of Commerce has outlined a framework agreement with South Korea to build six Westinghouse AP1000 reactors and two Korean APR1400 units in the United States, World Nuclear News reports. The plan, called Project Power, is valued at $120 billion: $100 billion for construction, described as overnight costs, and $20 billion for contingency reserves, which count toward the investment amount.
The locations have not been specified. The department says individual projects will be announced separately as sites, schedules and commercial terms are finalised, and that the eight units would contribute to the president's goal of having 10 large reactors under construction by 2030. The two countries have agreed to cooperate on transferring a $10 billion advance payment by the end of the year, aimed mainly at the immediate purchase of long-lead items. Korean companies, not yet named, would also make a significant minority equity investment in Westinghouse.
Cameco, which owns 49% of Westinghouse, said the units would be deployed on federal sites, starting with two AP1000s. It also said the agreement contemplates a one-time waiver of the 2025 settlement in Westinghouse's intellectual-property dispute with Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, allowing up to two APR1400 reactors to be built in the US. Cameco expects the associated compensation to provide about $2 billion of value per APR1400 through licensing, engineering and procurement services, subcontracting and long-term fuel fabrication. It does not expect the Korean equity investment to affect its own stake.
Why it matters
The two operating AP1000s at Vogtle were years late and far over budget, and the US has struggled to rebuild a nuclear supply chain since. Pairing American designs with Korea's construction and manufacturing base is an attempt to fix that, and the advance for long-lead items is the first concrete money. Without named sites, schedules or prices, it remains a framework.