Hope for the nuclear industry? NuVision's Brian Beley's got it

Hope for the nuclear industry? NuVision’s Brian Beley’s got it

Hope for the nuclear industry? NuVision's Brian Beley's got it

Brian Beley has just returned from a two-week tour of Asia — a long way to go for a sales call. The trip was intended to plant seeds rather than sign contracts.

To the Japanese, he brought the promise of keeping nuclear reactors cool without power. To Korean interests, he talked of making pipe welds last longer. In China, he laid it all out —everything that his company, South Side-based NuVision Engineering, has thought up during its 48 years in existence.

“China’s interested in everything we do,” Mr. Beley, NuVision’s new CEO said.

International work makes up more than half of the company’s revenue. And it’s expected to grow, he said.

Mr. Beley is remarkably upbeat about nuclear work, including new nuclear construction, even in the face of a string of discouraging turns for the industry. The past few years have seen uneconomic U.S. nuclear plants announce plans to retire early, as well as two new Westinghouse reactors in South Carolina abandoned after a decade and billions of dollars spent on construction.

Cranberry-based Westinghouse Electric Co. is one of NuVision’s significant and oldest clients. Both Mr. Beley and his predecessor, Van Walker, came from there. The Westinghouse bankruptcy, which cast a shadow over the already dim prospects of a nuclear renaissance in the U.S., has not impacted NuVision, Mr. Beley said.

Anya Litvak: alitvak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1455.

First Published July 19, 2018, 8:28am