Westinghouse AP1000 reactor
Nuclear reactor
People recommend it as a complete, buildable large reactor design that should get cheaper with repeat builds; the common caveat is that Vogtle ran over budget and late.
People recommend it as a complete, buildable large reactor design that should get cheaper with repeat builds; the common caveat is that Vogtle ran over budget and late.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 65%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Completed design ready to build
“Building perfectly safe and fine AP 1000s that already exist many times today and can be built whenever you want to.”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “NRC Issues First Commercial Reactor Construction Approval in 10 Years [pdf]” “What is needed is large construction investment in existing approved designs like AP-1000 and BWRX-300”
Comment from 23 Dec 2025 in “US blocks all offshore wind construction, says reason is classified” “The AP1000 is actually quite a nice design (it actually has a completed design now).”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “In Europe, Wind and Solar Overtake Fossil Fuels” Expected to get cheaper and faster
“there is good reason to believe that future NOAK builds of the AP-1000 and of comparable reactors will be much faster and much cheaper”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Nuclear energy key to decarbonising Europe, says EESC” “the AP1000 has a much better chance of reaching affordability than SMRs”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction” “Just buy a AP1400 and be done with it for far cheaper.”
Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “UK Green party drops longstanding opposition to nuclear power” Recommended over SMRs
“Main focus of the industry by far should be deploying more AP1000s or ABWRs right now”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 on Hacker News “the AP1000 has a much better chance of reaching affordability than SMRs”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Court orders restart of all US offshore wind power construction” Replaces older Gen II reactors
“This reactor does nearly twice as much as its predecessor using half the materials to build, at least for some systems.”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “Belgium stops decommissioning nuclear power plants” “A fine reactor to replace Gen II reactors with.”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “Belgium stops decommissioning nuclear power plants”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Costs ran far over budget
“The proposed costs for the Westinghouse reactors in Poland and EPR2s in France are pretty much in line with the unthinkably expensive Vogtle costs.”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “US blocks all offshore wind construction, says reason is classified” “It came out 20B over budget and 7 years late.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “Italian parliament votes for return to nuclear energy” Design not buildable or incomplete
“Westinghouse had submitted plans for the AP-1000 to the NRC that were not actually buildable.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Nuclear energy key to decarbonising Europe, says EESC” “The AP1000 was an incomplete design, plus the aircraft impact assessment change happened.”
Comment from 27 Oct 2026 in “Solar power is becoming bigger than nuclear” Construction and supply chain problems
“In practice the production line wasn't as controlled as it needed to be and ended up delivering modules that needed significant rework.”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “Italian parliament votes for return to nuclear energy” “didn't have the supply chain issues like with epr/ap1000”
Comment from 5 Mar 2026 in “NRC Issues First Commercial Reactor Construction Approval in 10 Years [pdf]” “The real problem at Vogtle were construction logistics”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Banning lead in gas worked. The proof is in our hair”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westinghouse AP1000 reactorThis page | 13 | 7 | 65% | 8 | — | — |
| CANDU reactor | 12 | 3 | 80% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
21 of the 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Just buy a AP1400 and be done with it for far cheaper.”
“The AP1000 was an incomplete design, plus the aircraft impact assessment change happened.”
“AP1000 (reactor as Vogtle 3/4) in Taishan is estimated to cost $4M-6M /MW”
“In practice the production line wasn't as controlled as it needed to be and ended up delivering modules that needed significant rework.”
“It came out 20B over budget and 7 years late.”
“This reactor does nearly twice as much as its predecessor using half the materials to build, at least for some systems.”
“A fine reactor to replace Gen II reactors with.”
“nuclear power is a 21st century success story”
“didn't have the supply chain issues like with epr/ap1000”
“building out more AP-1000s is really a no brainer”
“Building perfectly safe and fine AP 1000s that already exist many times today and can be built whenever you want to.”
“The real problem at Vogtle were construction logistics”
“the AP1000 has a much better chance of reaching affordability than SMRs”
“The AP1000 is actually quite a nice design (it actually has a completed design now).”
“The industry whiffed big time.”
“AP1000 went passive safety way but westinghose imploded and they needed to ask Korea for help”
“What is needed is large construction investment in existing approved designs like AP-1000 and BWRX-300”
“The proposed costs for the Westinghouse reactors in Poland and EPR2s in France are pretty much in line with the unthinkably expensive Vogtle costs.”
“Westinghouse had submitted plans for the AP-1000 to the NRC that were not actually buildable.”
“there is good reason to believe that future NOAK builds of the AP-1000 and of comparable reactors will be much faster and much cheaper”
“Main focus of the industry by far should be deploying more AP1000s or ABWRs right now”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.