North America Nuclear Reactor Construction Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The North America nuclear reactor construction market is expected to decline at a CAGR of around 10% during the forecast period of 2020 - 2025. Factors such as a large number of reactors with age exceeding 30 years and shift of energy generation from oil and gas towards nuclear energy are expected to be major drivers driving the market. Also, advancement in technology, leading to an increase in efficiency and reliability of modern nuclear power plants, has been a significant factor for the growth of the North America nuclear reactor construction market. However, renewable sources of energy making nuclear power uneconomical has somewhat hampered the growth of the market.

Key Highlights

• The pressurized water reactor has dominated the market in recent years and is expected to dominate the market in the forecast period, owing to factors like low cost operating reactor, as both the coolant and the moderator used in the reactor is light water and relatively higher controllable and safer nature of the reactor.
• The increase in electricity demand in the region is expected to provide an excellent opportunity for the Asia-Pacific nuclear reactor construction market in the forecast period.
• United States is expected to dominate the market, over rising concerns over pollution from energy plants based on coal and rising electricity demand. The country is the largest electricity generator from nuclear power plants in the region and produced 849.6 TWh of electricity from its nuclear power plants.

Key Market Trends

Pressurized Water Reactor to dominate the Market

• The pressurized water reactor nuclear reactor sector has dominated the market in the past and is expected to do so in the forecast period too. The reactor is the most popular form of the nuclear reactor due to its higher control and safety compared to other forms of reactors.
• PWR has some advantages over other reactors that make it the most used nuclear reactor in the globe. PWR reactors are low cost operating reactor, as both the coolant and the moderator used in the reactor is light water, which is cheaper than other kinds of coolant, like heavy water.
• With less fissile material in the core reactor, chances of additional fission reaction reduce, that makes the reactors to have only the required temperature and reduce the chances of facing any kind of unfavorable conditions, thus making the reactor safer and controllable. Lastly, PWR has separate loops for water and nuclear reaction. This reduces the chances of water contamination with radioactive material.
• United States have the maximum number of pressurized water reactor at 64 with a combined capacity of 64.75 GWe.
• Therefore, the aforementioned factors are expected to drive the market in the forecast period.

United States to Dominate the Market

• The United States has dominated the nuclear reactor construction market in 2018 in the region and is expected to continue its dominance in the coming years as well. The country has been very active in the sector in recent years in a bid to reduce dependence on coal-based power plants. In 2018 the United States produced over 27% of its electricity from coal.
• The United States is building two new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at Vogtle in Georgia, which are scheduled to start operating in November 2021 and November 2022, respectively. Additionally, some small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration units are planned in the 2020s. NuScale Power’s reactor is the world’s first and only SMR to undergo design certification review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
• Moreover, in July 2019, the Nuclear Energy Renewal Act was introduced in the Senate. The NERA directs the Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish and enhance programmes to help reduce the operation and maintenance costs of United States nuclear power plants, expand advanced modelling and simulation tools, and bolster research and development.
• The United States government is also preparing a new push to help American companies compete in the race to build the next generation of nuclear power plants. This push is due to the increasing competition from the Russian and Chinese countries for being the biggest exporter of the nuclear energy.
• Hence, with the upcoming nuclear power projects, and the government support for nuclear energy generation, the nuclear reactor construction market is expected to be on the positive side for United States during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The North America nuclear reactor construction market is moderately consolidated. Some of the major companies are Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Toshiba), GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Inc., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Electricite de France SA (EDF)​ among others.

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