BWX Technologies Inc is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. BWX is a supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government. They provide technical, management and site services to support governments in the operation of complex facilities and environmental restoration activities. BWX will produce TRISO fuel in to power the Project Pele microreactor. Pele is the first microreactor to be manufactured and operated in the U.S.
BWX is manufacturing a core for Project Pele, TRISO fuel for additional reactors and coated particle fuel for NASA under a thirty-seven-million-dollar award from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL will manage the contract and provide technical support and oversight.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) has partnered with the Department of Energy (DoE) to develop, prototype and demonstrate a transportable reactor. This is being called a whole-of-government effort in Project Pele to develop a transportable microreactor. Such reactors can deliver clean, low-carbon energy where and when it is needed. They will be a resilient power source for DoD operational needs. They can also potentially be used in the civilian and commercial sectors for disaster response and recovey, power generation at remote locations, and deep decarbonization initiatives.
BWX was chosen earlier this year by the SCO to construct the prototype which is to be completed and delivered in 2024 for testing at INL. The TRISO fuel will be delivered separately.
TRISO stands for TRIstructural-ISOtropic fuel. The TRISO particles contain a spherical kernel of enriched uranium oxycarbide surrounded by layers of carbon and silicon carbide. These outer layers trap fission products inside the particles. TRISO has been described by the DoE as “the mort robust nuclear fuel on Earth.” The high-assay low enrichment (HALEU) fuel is down blended from the U.S. stockpile of high-enriched uranium (HEU). BWX’s facilities are the only private U.S. facilities that are licensed to possess and process HEU.
Kathryn Huff is the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. She said that it was “extremely exciting to see decades of DOE's investments in TRISO fuel … paying off to power many of the most innovative advanced reactor designs to be deployed within this decade”.
John Wagner is the INL Laboratory Director. He said, “This commercial TRISO fuel production line is the culmination of more than 15 years of work at INL and other DOE national laboratories, in partnership with BWXT, to develop and qualify this fuel with immense potential for use in microreactors, space reactors and other advanced reactor concepts. As the United States moves steadily toward a carbon-free energy future, nuclear power is an essential part of the journey. Project Pele will demonstrate the viability of this fuel type, opening the door for other advanced reactors.”
BWX said that it has expanded its speciality coated fuel production manufacturing capacity through previously announced awards funded by the DoD Operational Energy Capabilities Improvement Fund Office and NASA and program management provided by SCO. In addition to TRISO, BWX also produces speciality coated fuels for NASA for the space nuclear propulsion project inside the agency’s Space Telescope Mission Directorate.