Nearly A Year After "Nuclear Renaissance" Gum-Flapping By Shitstain, Inc., No Customers, Orders Or Commitments
As the Trump administration rolled out a cascade of purported breakthroughs that will revive nuclear power, its most audacious announcement came in October, when it unveiled a plan to build a fleet of massive legacy reactors with Japan poised to foot much of the bill. Under the terms shared by the Commerce Department, tens of billions of dollars promised to flow from Japan toward 10 new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors each capable of powering a city the size of Denver.
American taxpayers were assured that, rather than presenting a big financial risk, the partnership would create a windfall for them, as the federal government was claiming an ownership stake in Westinghouse that could be cashed in for billions if the company goes public down the road.
Eight months after this partnership was unveiled, Japan has yet to commit money to a single large reactor. No utility has ordered an AP1000. The administration has declined to identify any customers for the reactors it says are coming, and industry executives involved in trying to make the projects happen say President Donald Trumps plan to boost nuclear power is long on aspiration and light on binding agreements.
Most of the people I know in the industry are working on the assumption that there is going to be no investment coming out of this deal with Japan, said one senior industry official who is trying to push forward an AP1000 project. They spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for antagonizing the administration. Most of us have given up, the official said. The administration cannot answer basic questions around how this would work. Another industry veteran was more blunt about the Trump administrations effort to use the threat of tariffs on Japan get it to pay for U.S. AP1000 reactors: Japan is not going to open their checkbook just because the president says they should. They are not stupid.A spokesman for the Japanese government did not respond to questions from The Washington Post. Neither did Westinghouse.
EDIT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/07/12/trump-says-nuclear-renaissance-is-coming-deals-arent/
https://wapo.st/3RbE7RR