Rolls-Royce said the sale comprises civil nuclear services businesses in the US and Canada along with sites at Mondragon, France, and Gateshead, UK, which are part of its power systems business unit.
The sale does not include the instrumentation and controls business based in Grenoble, France, which remains under review.
It also does not include Rolls-Royce’s UK nuclear new build operations or small modular reactor activities.
The company is heading an SMR consortium which plans to install and operate “factory-built power stations” capable of competing on price with low-cost renewables such as offshore wind.
It has said the target cost for each new SMR is £1.8bn by the time five have been built, with further savings possible. A programme to build up to 16 SMRs by 2050 could create up to 40,000 jobs, contribute £52bn of value to the UK economy and £250bn of exports.
Westinghouse, supplier of the AP1000 nuclear reactor technology, said the acquisition will improve its operating plant services, capabilities and technologies.
“Expanding our geographic footprint and strengthening our portfolio of systems and services is a key focus to better serve our clients and deploy innovative and leading solutions to the installed base of nuclear plants,” said Westinghouse president and chief executive officer Patrick Fragman.
Westinghouse, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba, filed for bankruptcy in March 2017 after long delays and rising costs at the Vogtle and Summer nuclear projects in the US, for which it was supplying its AP1000 reactor technology.
In August 2018 Westinghouse emerged from bankruptcy as a reorganised company after the completion of its sale to Brookfield WEC Holdings for $4.6bn.
