Energy · Profile from Energy Research Companion
Westinghouse Electric Company
The Pittsburgh company George Westinghouse founded in 1886 to sell alternating-current power, which built the US Navy's first submarine reactor and the first full-scale US civilian nuclear plant (Shippingport, 1957), designed the pressurised-water reactor that became the world's most common type, and then — under Toshiba's ownership — signed fixed-price contracts to build four first-of-a-kind AP1000 reactors in Georgia and South Carolina that bankrupted it in March 2017. Brookfield bought it out of Chapter 11 in 2018; Brookfield (51%) and Cameco (49%) bought it again in November 2023 at a ~$8.2bn enterprise value. Today it is mostly a services and fuel business for roughly half the world's operating reactors (company claim), and the vehicle for the US government's late-October 2025 framework for at least $80bn of new reactors. Its story is the main US case of what happens when a vendor bets its balance sheet on fixed prices for first-of-a-kind construction.
At a glance
- Founded
- 8 Jan 1886, Pittsburgh, as Westinghouse Electric Company (later Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing); current nuclear company descends from the nuclear businesses CBS sold to BNFL in 1999
- Headquarters
- Cranberry Township (Pittsburgh area), Pennsylvania
- Ownership / structure
- Private: Brookfield-led consortium (Brookfield Renewable Partners and institutional partners) 51%, Cameco 49% (since 7 Nov 2023); US government participation interest under the Oct 2025 term sheet (unvested; vests only after FID and definitive agreements for ≥$80bn of reactors)
- Leadership (2026)
- Dan Sumner (interim CEO from early 2025, verify current title); Patrick Fragman (CEO 2019–2025, verify dates); David Durham (president, energy systems, verify)
- Assets
- Fuel fabrication (Columbia, South Carolina; Springfields, UK; Västerås, Sweden); engineering and services centres in the US and Europe; AP1000 design (NRC certified 2006, amended 2011), AP300 SMR (launched May 2023), eVinci microreactor; outage services fleet
- Scale
- Cameco's 49% share: revenue ~C$3.46bn and adjusted EBITDA ~C$780m in 2025 (Cameco, Feb 2026), implying ~C$7bn of revenue and ~C$1.6bn of adjusted EBITDA at 100% (derived, verify); ~9,000–10,000 employees (verify)
- Installed base
- Designs or services a large share of the world's ~440 operating reactors (company says "nearly half", verify); AP1000s operating: Vogtle 3 and 4 (Georgia) and four in China (Sanmen 1–2, Haiyang 1–2), with China's CAP1000 derivatives under construction
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding and AC power (1886); Shippingport and the PWR (1957); BNFL purchase and break-up of the conglomerate (1999); Toshiba purchase (2006); the AP1000 fixed-price contracts at Vogtle and V.C. Summer (2008, failure); Chapter 11 (2017, failure); Brookfield (2018); Cameco/Brookfield (2023); the US government term sheet and KHNP settlement (2025)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1886
George Westinghouse and AC Power
Founding / technology bet
1957
Shippingport and the PWR
Technology bet / construction or commissioning
1999
BNFL Purchase and the Conglomerate Breakup
Divestment (by CBS) / acquisition (by BNFL)
2006
Toshiba Purchase
Acquisition or merger
2008
AP1000 Fixed Price Contracts Vogtle and Summer
Offtake or supply contract (EPC) / construction (failure)
2017
Chapter 11
Restructuring or bankruptcy (failure)
2018
Brookfield Acquisition
Acquisition out of bankruptcy
2023
Cameco Brookfield Acquisition
Acquisition or merger
2025
US Government Term Sheet and KHNP Settlement
Regulatory or legal action (IP settlement) / financing (state support)