AtkinsRéalis eyeing U.S. market for nuclear technology push

Globe and Mail

a day ago

AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. ATRL-T is moving to deploy its nuclear-reactor technology into the United States, a surprise push one analyst said could bolster the company's revenue and exposure to American investors if it manages to clinch deals against growing competition.
The Canadian engineering company has 'begun to explore opportunities for alternative large nuclear reactor technologies, notably Candu reactors, in the U.S.,' Joe St. Julian, president of the nuclear operations at AtkinsRéalis, said in an e-mailed statement Monday. Talks have started with U.S. regulatory agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Nuclear Security Administration, to assess licensing and other potential concerns, the company said.
The Financial Times was first to report on the corporation's plans.
AtkinsRéalis chief executive Ian Edwards has reshaped the engineering company, previously known as SNC-Lavalin, by selling oil and gas assets and pivoting toward a simplified business model centred on engineering services and consulting work. Pushing its nuclear business hard is a big part of the new strategy.
AtkinsRéalis joins several nuclear energy multinationals weighing moves into the U.S., attracted by President Donald Trump's aim to quadruple America's atomic energy capacity over the next 25 years to meet rising demand for electricity. The President signed executive orders in May directing the Department of Energy to expedite construction of 10 large reactors by 2030, heralding what the White House science policy director called an 'American nuclear renaissance.'
AtkinsRéalis holds an exclusive licence for Canada's Candu reactor, which uses a heavy water technology to process natural uranium as fuel. It is marketing the 740-megawatt Enhanced Candu 6 along with a proposed 1,000-megawatt model called the Monark.
Executives with the Montreal-based company acknowledge that countries typically favour their own sovereign nuclear technology, which would give Pennsylvania-based reactor builder Westinghouse home-field advantage in any new contracts (Westinghouse is Canadian-owned). But they're betting Westinghouse won't be able to build 10 reactors at the same time, leaving room for Candu.
Analysis: Armed with Canadian taxpayer support, AtkinsRéalis and Westinghouse are competing to export nuclear reactors. Which one will prevail?
'We are positively surprised by this development,' Desjardins Securities analyst Benoît Poirier said in a note. He had believed a U.S. contract was not possible for AtkinsRéalis given past failed attempts to bring Candu reactors stateside as well as 'the current protectionist geopolitical climate' in Canada and the U.S.
On top of that, the competitive landscape is more intense in the U.S., the analyst said, with international players such as Kepco (Korea Electric Power Corp.), legacy firms such as Westinghouse, and small modular reactor disruptors such as GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, NANO Nuclear Energy Inc., NuScale Power Corp., Oklo Inc., TerraPower, X-Energy Inc. and newcleo all vying for a piece of the pie.
'If AtkinsRéalis does secure a new-build reactor south of the border, it would not only represent incremental growth but also boost visibility with U.S. investors,' Mr. Poirier said. Despite the company's share price run-up over the past two years, the stock remains significantly 'under-owned' outside Canada, with U.S. ownership at just 8 per cent of the total, he said.
By comparison, Canadian companies such as Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. CP-T and TFI International Inc. TFII-T have U.S. ownership levels above 30 per cent. Plane maker Bombardier Inc. BBD-B-T has grown its U.S. investor base to nearly 20 per cent in recent years from about 5 per cent as it recentred the business to focus on luxury jet sales, defence, and service and maintenance.
AtkinsRéalis said the U.S. is one of its core markets for engineering services and that it has taken the current trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. into account in its strategic evaluations for ramping up its nuclear offering there. It said it intends to use its new technology centre in Richland, Wash., to further develop and apply 'innovative nuclear and environmental cleanup technologies.'
Nuclear accounted for 12 per cent of revenues at AtkinsRéalis last year. The business is growing rapidly, however, and now employs about 4,000 people, up from 3,000 in 2022. Much of its recent hiring is in preparation for anticipated new reactor sales in Canada and abroad.
Last fall, the company won a joint contract to build two nuclear reactors in Romania, the first Candu reactors to be built in the world since 2007. The Canadian government will loan $3-billion to Romania's nuclear power operator to finance the deal – funds that will be directed exclusively to Canadian providers of goods and services working on the project.
Executives with the engineering firm estimate that countries will need 1,000 new nuclear reactors by 2050. Assuming the company's Candu solution nabs 5 per cent of that business (there are six large-scale reactor technologies globally, including Candu), they peg the market potential at $750-billion.