A new joint venture between Brookfield Asset Management and The Nuclear Company is aiming to revive and complete the long-stalled VC Summer nuclear expansion project in South Carolina, marking another major push to accelerate nuclear construction in the United States.
The partnership, announced Tuesday, will focus on managing development and execution of projects based on Westinghouse reactor technology, including AP1000 and AP300 designs. The companies said the venture will provide end-to-end project management services, licensing support and oversight of engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning activities.
The first target for the new venture is the unfinished VC Summer nuclear expansion project, where construction of two AP1000 reactors was halted in 2017 after Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy.
Brookfield said it has selected the new company, with support from state-owned utility Santee Cooper, to project manage potential completion of the reactors. The company described the site as “one of the most execution-ready nuclear development opportunities in America.”
Construction on the two AP1000 units originally began in 2013. However, mounting cost overruns and delays led to the project’s abandonment four years later following Westinghouse’s bankruptcy filing. Majority owner SCE&G, now Dominion Energy South Carolina, later transferred its interest in the partially completed assets to Santee Cooper.
The renewed effort comes amid growing national interest in expanding nuclear power generation to support rising electricity demand from manufacturing, electrification and data center growth.
Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco acquired Westinghouse in 2023, positioning the companies to play a larger role in the next generation of U.S. nuclear development.
The Nuclear Company, launched in 2024, has promoted a “design-once, build-many” strategy intended to streamline nuclear construction through standardized reactor deployment and an AI-driven project management platform.
The companies said the joint venture will specialize exclusively in Westinghouse nuclear technologies, aiming to improve project execution and reduce the delays and cost escalations that have challenged large-scale nuclear construction in the past.
Last year, Brookfield, Cameco and the U.S. government announced a strategic partnership focused on deploying at least $80 billion worth of new nuclear reactors across the country using Westinghouse technology.
While the new venture has been selected to oversee due diligence and project planning, officials emphasized that restarting construction at VC Summer remains contingent on additional evaluations, regulatory approvals and final investment decisions.
“The formation of the new partnership is subject to approvals and conditions,” the companies stated.
Brookfield Managing Partner Wyatt Hartley said the venture combines infrastructure investment expertise with specialized nuclear project delivery capabilities.
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“By combining our global infrastructure development capabilities with nuclear project delivery expertise, we believe this platform has the potential to accelerate the American nuclear resurgence, building on the momentum of the Westinghouse partnership with the US Government,” Hartley said.
Joe Klecha, chief nuclear officer for The Nuclear Company, said the partnership was created to address longstanding challenges facing nuclear construction execution.
“Our team was built on the field of Vogtle and on some of the most complex energy projects in the world,” Klecha said. “We know what it takes to deliver nuclear. What's been missing is a model that brings together the people, the capabilities, and the capital to do it at speed and scale. That's what this partnership creates.”
If approved, the VC Summer restart would represent one of the most significant nuclear construction revivals in the United States in decades.
Originally reported by World Nuclear News.
