Westinghouse announces a new small nuclear reactor — a notable step in the industry’s efforts to remake itself

Westinghouse is offering a smaller-scale nuclear reactor in an effort to expand access to nuclear power as demand for clean energy soars.

The company announced the launch of a small version of its flagship AP1000 nuclear reactor on Thursday. The new reactor, called the AP300, aims to be available in 2027, and will generate about a third of the power of the flagship AP1000 reactor.

Westinghouse’s move is a notable inflection point in the nuclear industry’s effort to remake itself as a way to address climate change. Electricity generated from a nuclear fission reactor produces no greenhouse gas emissions.

The AP300 will generate approximately 300 megawatts of energy, which will power approximately 300,000 homes, versus 1,200 megawatts for the AP1000, according to David Durham, president of energy systems at Westinghouse.

Smaller nuclear reactors are less expensive to build, which is a major selling point. The AP300 is estimated to cost approximately $1 billion per unit, Durham told CNBC. A 2022 study from MIT, which Durham cited to CNBC, estimates that it should cost around $6.8 billion to stand up an AP1000.

The Vogtle power plant in Georgia is adding two AP1000s, and that project has been widely criticized for budget and schedule overruns. But Durham says publicized cost estimates, which have reached past $30 billion, include things like interest on money borrowed to pay for the project.

Because the small modular reactors are smaller and less expensive, they are also more versatile.

“Unlike the previous generation of nuclear power plants, which were only used by large integrated utilities, the sizes of the advanced reactors which range from microreactors of a half-megawatt to 300 megawatts or more, means that there is a significantly larger number of utilities that can utilize these technologies,” Jeffrey S. Merrifield, a nuclear energy lawyer and