"Going From The What To The How" Featuring Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse

Late last week, we traveled to Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania to spend the day with our friends from Westinghouse Electric Company. While there we met key members of the team, toured the facilities, saw full scale mock-ups of traditional nuclear reactors, visited the prototype workshop for the eVinci Micro Reactor, and also had a one-hour sit-down with President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Fragman. It was an absolutely fantastic experience and we can't thank the Westinghouse team enough for their hospitality. Today, we are thrilled to share the episode along with a current market update from our team. 

As many of you know, Westinghouse was founded by George Westinghouse over 130 years ago and is an iconic American technology company. The company pioneered the power generation industry among other developments including steam turbine generators and gas turbines, and was pivotal in the development of nuclear energy systems for electric power generation. The company built the first US commercial nuclear reactor (which opened in 1957 and is still in use today) and also built the first nuclear reactor for a submarine in the U.S. Navy. Of the 440 nuclear reactors in the world today, half are based on Westinghouse technology. 

As you will see, we hosted the discussion with Patrick Fragman in Westinghouse's AP1000 control room simulator. Patrick has more than thirty years of experience in global power and energy services. Prior to Westinghouse, he served in leadership positions at ABB and Alstom, and was also formerly an Advisor to the French Government in various industrial and energy-focused roles. In our conversation, we explore Patrick's background and expertise, the history of Westinghouse, Westinghouse's global reach and visibility into nuclear around the world, the challenges and excitement of building the first nuclear plants in the US in 40 years, excitement around micro reactors, the company's culture, the components of their overall business and the recent acquisition of BHI, Westinghouse's recent activities in Ukraine, China, and Eastern Europe, the growing acceptance of nuclear, the resurgence of young talent interested in the nuclear industry, and MORE. We wrap with Patrick's ten-year outlook for Westinghouse and the nuclear industry.    

In today's lead-in, Mike Bradley shared an update on weekly equity and commodity performance and expanded on 2H'22 markets for crude oil, natural gas, and overall energy sector themes. Colin Fenton picked up on the natural gas theme with an analysis on today's natural gas price and flagged the upcoming 6-month anniversary of the Ukraine invasion with observations on the futures and options market since then. Brett Rampal also joined to preview our visit at Westinghouse. 

We want to thank the Westinghouse team profusely for the opportunity. We hope you all enjoy the discussion as much as we did! As always, thank you for your support and friendship.