Samsung C&T, SK Innovation, and other major South Korean industrial groups are exploring a joint acquisition of a 5% to 10% stake in Westinghouse Electric, the most prominent American company in the civil nuclear sector. The total investment is estimated at around 4 trillion South Korean won, equivalent to approximately $2.8 billion — a figure that speaks volumes about how seriously Seoul is betting on nuclear energy as a strategic asset.
The consortium under consideration includes, alongside Samsung C&T and SK Innovation, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, GS E&C, and Doosan Enerbility. The plan calls for private companies to join state-owned entities KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corp.) and KHNP (Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power), spreading the financial burden across both the public and private sectors. The Seoul government is currently coordinating each participant’s investment intentions and individual contribution shares.
This move fits within the broader South Korea–United States agreement, which envisions a $200 billion investment fund, with up to $120 billion earmarked for the construction of eight large nuclear reactors on American soil. The Westinghouse stake is one of the central elements of that deal. Should the company go public, financial sector estimates would value it at up to $30 billion — making the prospect of entering at a 10% discount to the offering price a tangible opportunity for consortium members.
Several sticking points remain in the negotiations. Seoul is pushing for a stake of 20% or more, with meaningful voting rights and a seat on the board of directors. Washington, however, is said to have set a ceiling of between 5% and 10%. The gap is more than just numerical: a larger stake would allow South Korea to renegotiate the terms agreed with Westinghouse back in 2023, when KHNP and KEPCO signed a fifty-year agreement requiring royalty payments and supply commitments worth over one trillion won per exported reactor. Westinghouse is currently 51% owned by Canada’s Brookfield and 49% by Cameco.
South Korean private sector interest in nuclear energy is nothing new, but this deal represents a step change in scale. SK Group had already invested $250 million in TerraPower, the American small modular reactor company founded by Bill Gates. Gaining a foothold in Westinghouse means direct access to AP1000 reactor technology and global supply chains for maintenance and fuel. For Samsung C&T, it is an opportunity to strengthen its international nuclear engineering footprint at a time when energy demand from data centers and the semiconductor industry is growing at a rapid pace. If Seoul and Washington can bridge the gap on the size of the stake, the consortium could become one of the most significant private shareholders in one of the world’s leading civil nuclear players.
