Westinghouse to increase headcount in Spain as it eyes growth in Europe

By Pietro Lombardi

MADRID, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Westinghouse Electric Company plans to hire hundreds of additional workers at its Spanish operations by the end of the decade as it eyes new markets in Europe for its AP1000 nuclear reactors, two senior company officials said on Monday.

European countries including Italy and Poland are looking to nuclear power as a way of helping decarbonise their economies, while Spain's largest utilities are seeking a review of plans to close all of its nuclear reactors by 2035.

Madrid is home to the U.S. company's main operations in Europe, employing some 1,200 workers at the end of 2024.

It plans to increase that number to around 1,500 by 2030, regardless of whether Spain maintains its planned phase-out, said Xavier Coll, the head of Westinghouse Electric's Spanish business.

The majority of the staff based in Spain focus on other European markets, meaning staffing levels were not ultimately affected by the fate of the country's nuclear sector, he told journalists at the presentation of a new simulator to train those working with the AP1000 reactors.

There are 14 units of the company's AP1000 reactor model currently under construction in China and 14 units under contract in Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

"We see a very strong demand especially in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe in terms of new units," said Luca Oriani, global head of Westinghouse Electric's new reactor business.

"We have a number of additional countries besides the ones listed that are performing what are called front-end engineering studies, which is the preparation of licensing and application" for new units, he said.