Our Nuclear Energy team is globally recognized for advising clients across the full range of legal, regulatory, and commercial issues affecting the nuclear energy industry. We have worked on large-scale nuclear projects around the world, supporting sponsors, developers, operators, lenders, and investors on complex nuclear matters. With deep knowledge of the issues across the sector, our firm brings together decades of experience and institutional insight developed through longstanding involvement in the nuclear industry.
Within the nuclear sector, Mayer Brown assists clients across the entire nuclear life cycle from planning and project development through construction, licensing, and financing, to operations, decommissioning, and waste management. Our firm’s long history advising on nuclear projects has resulted in a strong foundation of regulatory, transactional, and risk management expertise that informs our work on today’s evolving nuclear technologies and projects.
Energy
Power Supply
Fuel Supply
Offtake Arrangements
Power Regulation
Construction
Environmental
Supply Chain
Design & Construction
EPC Contracts
Technology
Nuclear Plant Technology & Operations
Cybersecurity & Data Protection
National Security & Export Controls
Advanced & Emerging Nuclear Technologies
Financing
Project & Structured Finance
Capital Markets & Investment
M&A
Experience
Advised on the development of UniStar nuclear projects, including the negotiation of an EPC contract with Bechtel for the proposed Calvert Cliffs 3 project.
Negotiated the master purchase agreement and form of purchase agreement for the purchase of up to four turbine-condenser packages.
Negotiated a US$650 million pre-licensing credit agreement with COFACE for Calvert Cliffs 3.
Negotiated Department of Energy loan guaranty commitment with the Department of Energy for Calvert Cliffs 3.
Negotiated early-stage generic and project-specific engineering agreements with Bechtel for EPR and Calvert Cliffs 3.
Negotiated joint venture agreement for UniStar Nuclear, the new nuclear development joint venture between EdF and Constellation.
Negotiated joint venture agreement between EdF and Constellation for joint ownership of Constellation’s operating nuclear fleet.
Negotiated EPC and nuclear fuel supply agreements on behalf of GE Hitachi for a prospective Economic Simplified Boiling-Water Reactor (ESBWR) opposite a large public utility.
Represented X-energy in the successful 48C application in connection with the construction of a fuel fabrication facility.
Advised Studsvik in the sale of (i) its nuclear waste operations in Erwin and Memphis, Tennessee, (ii) its 51% stake in Semprasafe LLC, and (iii) parts of its THOR patents, to EnergySolutions, Inc.
Represented a venture capital investment firm in its investments in (i) a software company providing data-driven insights for an evolving energy market by combining proprietary analytics with advanced grid mapping, (ii) a nuclear reactor and field design engineering company, (iii) a space infrastructure developer, (iv) a cybersecurity services company, (v) a technology company combining AI and machine learning-enabled software with a crowdsourced network of white-hat hackers, and (vi) a technology company providing defense against malicious automated cyberattacks on web and mobile applications.
Advised KEPCO in connection with its more than US$20 billion award of the nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates.
Advised a large US client in a joint venture in connection with the operation of the first nuclear reactor in Abu Dhabi.
Advised a member of a US-Japan consortium for a proposed nuclear power plant construction project in Abu Dhabi.
Represented SCANA Corporation, which owns the South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., in an agreement with Dominion Energy, Inc., one of the largest energy companies in the United States, in a stock-for-stock merger valued at $14.6 billion including debt.
Represented Visa Inc. as purchaser in a production and investment tax credit transfer transaction for approximately US$237 million in 2024 tax credits, generated by California-based nuclear power projects and battery energy storage projects owned by Southern California Edison Company.
Represented a Japan-US nuclear alliance company as consortium leader of one of the three shortlisted bidders for the UAE Civil Nuclear Program.
Represented a Japanese multinational industrial company as EPC contractor on the PBMR nuclear power project in South Africa.
Advised a Japanese public-private partnership fund in its proposed investment in relation to an acquisition of a French nuclear power company.
Advised China General Nuclear Power Corporation on its US$2.4 billion purchase of 14 power plants owned and operated by Edra and Powertek, subsidiaries of 1MDB.
Advised on a US$250 million investment in a next-generation nuclear reactor company by two South Korean companies.
Advised on the interpretation of proposed and final regulations to expand CFIUS’s jurisdiction and the impacts on the nuclear sector.
Defended a nuclear reactor vendor in a lawsuit related to a nuclear power plant in New York.
Represented insurers of an international contractor in an LCIA arbitration against the Ministry of Defence concerning the design and construction of a nuclear facility for the maintenance of the United Kingdom’s nuclear submarine fleet in Scotland.
Successfully represented a joint venture set up by two construction companies in a claim to recover costs relating to the design and construction of Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station in the United Kingdom.
Advised a mechanical and electrical contractor concerning claims arising out of the design and construction of ductwork for the nuclear weapons research establishment at Aldermaston in the United Kingdom.
Handled a series of arbitration/mediation matters—including one European arbitration—involving billions of dollars for the nuclear energy division of a transnational company. These matters principally involved responsibility for the costs of repairing or replacing major components of nuclear power plants and consequential damages flowing from delay/downtime.
Advised on claims concerning the design and construction of processing plant for handling nuclear waste at Sellafield in the UK.
Advised CGNPC on its bid to design, supply, install, commission, and operate a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania, involving the review of a Strategic Investor/Joint Venture Agreement, detailed terms sheets for EPC, O&M, and Fuel Supply elements for two pressurized water reactors with a rating of 1000MW each and associated infrastructure.
