Cameco announces $7.8 billion partnership to buy Westinghouse Electric

Cameco has announced a partnership with energy company Brookfield Renewable to buy Westinghouse Electric Co. for US$7.875 billion.

Westinghouse is a U.S.-based company providing nuclear technology to utilities around the world. According to Cameco, Westinghouse technology is the basis for almost half of the world’s operating nuclear power plants. Cameco will own 49 per cent of Westinghouse after the deal.

During a news conference in Saskatoon Wednesday, Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said the uranium company has weathered some tough times over the past decade, but now, Cameco is back.

“We’ve known Brookfield for a long time … and we knew Westinghouse was up for sale; it’s been for sale for about 18 months. As we started coming out of some tougher times in nuclear … we said ‘what else can we do?’”

Gitzel said Cameco wanted to be on the front end of the worldwide revival of nuclear power, and were waiting for the right timing, opportunity and partner. They found it in Brookfield Renewable and Westinghouse Electric, Gitzel said.

“In this race to net zero, we need to find other options, and you can’t exclude nuclear,” he added.

Westinghouse, he explained, is a well-known American name, and complementary to Cameco. Uranium is mined in Saskatchewan and refined here, he said, and fuel is also made by Cameco for CANDU reactors, or, Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactors.

Where Westinghouse takes over is making fuel for light-water reactors, which comprise the majority of reactors around the world. Cameco could potentially supply the refined uranium for those reactors as well, Gitzel said.

“They’re involved with over half of the reactors – there’s 440 reactors – around the world. And they’re involved, either providing fuel, servicing, maintenance, all of that stuff,” he said.

Westinghouse also provides fuel for the eVinci reactors, sometimes called micro nuclear reactors. That diversity, said Gitzel, takes Cameco “down the nuclear food chain.”

Gitzel pointed to Europe, where eight months ago many countries were relying on Russian uranium to power their reactors. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, many countries are looking for other energy sources.

“Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia – all of those eastern European countries that relied on the Russians for their nuclear technology and their fuel are looking now and saying ‘Help!’ Westinghouse was over there … and we’re seeing a lot of new business,” added Gitzel.

That means Cameco will likely be the ones replacing the Russian supply of uranium to many of those countries, Gitzel said.

“Countries that have a lot of nuclear power usually don’t have a lot of uranium,” Gitzel said. “Countries that have a lot uranium, like us, have some nuclear power, but have excess uranium that we can sell to the world.”

Other countries, like Germany, are now considering nuclear power because natural gas lines can’t be relied upon, Gitzel said, and alternative energy supply sources need to be found. Nuclear, he said, is the cleanest option.

“No CO2 emissions. We’re in a climate change climate crisis, climate catastrophe, race to net zero,” said Gitzel. “Nuclear really fits the bill there.”

It will still take an estimated 6-12 months to complete the deal with Westinghouse, with the sale expected to be finalized in the latter half of 2023.