Brendan Bechtel, the chairman and CEO of US-based Bechtel, has said the US can and should play a leading role in developing nuclear power plants worldwide.

In an editorial commentary posted on the company’s website, Brendan Bechtel commented on how state-owned nuclear companies in Russia and China have taken the lead despite US dominance in the world’s nuclear industry from the 1950s to the 1980s. He highlighted Russia’s involvement in Egypt’s nuclear project.

Brendan Bechtel’s comments come at a pivotal time for the global nuclear industry as many countries plan projects.

At Cop28 in Dubai last year, 32 world leaders confirmed plans to triple nuclear power generation capacity by 2050.

The International Energy Agency projects that the world will need to double its use of nuclear energy by 2050 to keep carbon levels in the atmosphere within acceptable limits.

“As a result, hundreds of new plants will be needed in the coming decades. Vogtle [a recently completed project in Georgia] shows that the United States can and should play a leading role in this next wave of nuclear projects,” Bechtel said.

He then commented on the longstanding and strategic nature of nuclear projects.

“To be clear, suppliers in the nuclear power market are selling more than just a plant. Countries are buying into long-term relationships. A supplier will typically be involved throughout the hundred-year life of the nuclear programme, including ongoing arrangements to purchase fuel and provide training, consulting, and other vital services.

“Countries supplying commercial nuclear technologies and construction understand well that expanding their global reach enables long-term influence on nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation.”

The US is rebuilding its nuclear industry. In late April, the second of two new nuclear units went into service at the Vogtle plant in Georgia and in Wyoming permits have been filed for another nuclear plant. Bechtel is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor at Vogtle.