The United States and Japan are to include a nuclear power plant in the second round of agreements under Japan’s $550 billion investment package.
Westinghouse will be involved in the nuclear power project, which is intended to improve both nations’ energy supply lines as the Middle East conflict rekindles worries about energy security.
When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on March 19, a number of agreements that have been discussed may be announced.
Tokyo is rushing to close transactions under the investment pledges it made as part of a trade agreement with the United States.
Three projects totaling $36 billion have already been announced, one of which is an Ohio natural gas power plant.
A project to build a plant for smelting and purifying copper is also under consideration.
Japan’s Trade Minister Ryosei Akazawa intends to travel to the United States starting on Thursday to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in an effort to further the negotiations.
In a joint fact sheet released by the two ministries in October, Westinghouse was listed as one of roughly twenty businesses that had indicated interest in projects that Tokyo would finance.
According to the information sheet, the U.S. business, which is controlled by Brookfield and Cameco, is considering developing small modular reactors and pressurized water reactors worth up to $100 billion.
It stated that Japanese companies like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba, and IHI might be involved.
The U.S. government and Westinghouse signed a deal last year to develop nuclear reactors worth at least $80 billion, highlighting Trump’s plan to expand domestic energy production as demand rises due to the expansion of AI data centres.
The fact sheet further stated that Falcon Copper is looking into the involvement of Japanese suppliers and off-takers in the construction of a $2 billion copper smelting and refining facility.
According to a representative of Japan’s industry ministry, the administration was unsure of the outcome of the talks.
Mitsubishi Heavy stated that it would evaluate any equipment delivery on an individual basis and that no decisions had been made.
Toshiba chose not to respond. If specific discussions arose, IHI promised to review the details.
Outside of business hours, Westinghouse and Falcon Copper were unavailable for comment.
