US-based BWX Technologies announced that the US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Programme had exercised contract options totalling approximately $1 billion for manufacturing naval nuclear reactor components and fuel.
“BWXT is gratified to continue to support the US Navy as the sole manufacturer of naval nuclear reactors and fuel for US submarines and aircraft carriers,” BWXT Nuclear Operations Group President Joel W Duling said. “For more than 65 years, we have enabled US sailors to fulfil their missions across the globe, while also supporting our communities here at home with thousands of manufacturing jobs.”
BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, a subsidiary of BWXT, will complete this work on Columbia and Virginia-class reactor components at sites in Lynchburg, Virginia; Barberton and Euclid, Ohio; and Mount Vernon, Indiana. Reactor component manufacturing under this option is valued at nearly $840 million. Manufacture and delivery of fuel, and development work for future Naval Nuclear Propulsion programmes, valued at nearly $200 million, will be performed at BWXT subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tennessee. The options were awarded in the fourth quarter of 2021.
BWXT has manufactured naval nuclear components and reactor since the 1950s. Its reactors power the US Navy’s Ohio, Virginia, Seawolf and Los Angeles-class submarines, as well as the Nimitz and Ford-class aircraft carriers. The company anticipates completion of the first set of components for the new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine next year. Today, those ships and submarines represent more than 40% of the US combat fleet.
