If the US wants to expand nuclear energy and unlock efficiency gains the industry will need more help from the government to assume some of the financial risk of first-mover projects, Craig Albert, president and chief operating officer of engineering and construction company Bechtel, has said.

Albert wrote in an op-ed for The Hill that as the nuclear industry rebuilds its capability to deliver, new nuclear projects can be susceptible to delays and cost overruns that deter investors.

To stimulate the market, the government must absorb some of the early project cost overrun risks – just as other countries are already doing to grow their nuclear power output, Albert wrote.