TOKYO, March 14 - The United States and Japan have clarified the roles they expect to play in a prospective joint nuclear power programme that would bring together Westinghouse and Japanese nuclear equipment manufacturers, Dan Lipman, president of global business initiatives at Westinghouse, said on Saturday.
Officials from both governments are working to include such a nuclear power project in a second round of agreements tied to Japan's $550-billion investment package, according to sources cited earlier this month. Momentum for new nuclear facilities is rising globally as countries seek greater domestic energy resources to reduce exposure to supply disruptions.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum in Tokyo, Lipman said the two governments have reached an understanding about their respective roles in the potential programme, including how the supply chain would be structured within Japan. He emphasised the strategic nature of the work but noted further specifics remain to be finalised.
"These are very strategic projects that are very critical to Westinghouse and to our Japanese partners. We’re going to continue to work the transactions until projects are identified and ready for deployment," Lipman said.
Westinghouse - which is owned by Cameco and Brookfield - is contemplating construction of both pressurised water reactors and small modular reactors. A fact sheet released after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in October identified potential investments of up to $100 billion and flagged Japanese firms such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba and IHI as possible participants in the programme.
Lipman reiterated that those Japanese companies would play important roles in the projects, but he did not provide additional details on the nature or timing of their involvement.
Separately on Saturday, U.S. power equipment maker GE Vernova and Hitachi issued a joint statement saying they have agreed to explore opportunities on projects that would deploy their BWRX-300 small modular reactors in Southeast Asia.
The discussions between Washington and Tokyo, the prospective manufacturing partnerships, and the focus on supply-chain arrangements within Japan reflect an emphasis on coordinating government and industrial resources to enable deployment if specific projects are identified. Lipman said work will continue on transactional steps until projects are ready for deployment, underlining that finer points have yet to be settled.
Investment scale, technology choices and the involvement of established Japanese manufacturers are all elements that remain in flux as governments and companies advance planning and negotiations for potential nuclear deployments.
Contextual note: The article reflects statements and details provided by Westinghouse representatives and referenced fact sheets; further contractual or deployment decisions have not been announced.