Podcast: Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel on why time is right for Westinghouse deal
October saw the big news that a strategic partnership of Cameco Corporation and Brookfield Renewable Partners is to acquire Westinghouse Electric Company for a total enterprise value of approximately USD8 billion. Brookfield Renewable, together with its institutional partners, will own a 51% interest in Westinghouse and Cameco will own 49%. Closing of the transaction is expected in the second half of 2023, subject to certain conditions, including approval from Brookfield Business Partners unit holders and regulatory approvals.
So who better to explain the thinking behind the deal than Cameco President and CEO Tim Gitzel, who says why he thinks the timing is right for the deal and how it fits into what he sees as the future growth of the global nuclear energy sector.
He also outlines the current state and outlook for the uranium/fuel business, reflects on the impact of the Russian war with Ukraine on the global nuclear industry and says that with new technological developments nuclear has an increasingly crucial role to play for the longterm in efforts to combat climate change.
"Nuclear is going to be a critical part of the clean energy infrastructure going forward, and we on the fuel side have to be there to back it up with the fuel to run these things - not for a year or five years or 10 years - for 50 years. When you're building a reactor today, you're worried about uranium in 2060 and 2080 and so that's what we're thinking about now. It's not just the next few years, it's decades."
Read more - In Quotes: Tim Gitzel on the outlook for the nuclear energy sector
The WNN news round-up for October
In the news round-up for the month Claire Maden covers the start of fuel loading at Vogtle 3, the USA's first completely new nuclear unit for more than three decades, while Warwick Pipe outlines the latest state of play in Germany and the decision to rethink the end of year shutdown plans for its final nuclear power plants. We also hear what Greta Thunberg and Bill Gates have been saying about nuclear energy.
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