Miles Jamison
BWX Technologies has inaugurated a new facility intended to accelerate nuclear technology advancements.
The Virginia-based company said Wednesday it has opened the BWXT Innovation Campus in its Lynchburg headquarters. The 170,000 square-foot facility will house the company’s Advanced Technologies business unit, including its 350-strong workforce tasked with developing advanced nuclear technology for land, sea and space.
Advancing Nuclear Technology
The facility will serve as an innovation hub where BWXT’s team of experts can take full advantage of the laboratories and workspaces to design, construct and evaluate nuclear systems for federal government agencies. This includes the Department of Defense, NASA, Department of Energy, local governments, national research laboratories and commercial entities.
BWXT has exceeded its target of hiring 97 employees and is nearing the $65 million investment set under a $2 million tax incentive agreement in 2021. The company has already hired 115 personnel and has so far invested $51 million by the end of 2024. This has resulted in $227,000 in tax incentives for the company.
Current BXWT Projects
Project Pele, a mobile microreactor designed to provide clean and reliable energy for the DOD, is currently in development at the BWXT Innovation Campus. The Advanced Technologies team has been working on the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion project of NASA and DOE since 2017. The company is also part of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which aims to develop a nuclear thermal rocket engine for an in-space demonstration.
“This facility is a long-term investment, not only in BWXT, but in Lynchburg and in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Rex Geveden, president and CEO of BWXT. “Here in this Innovation Campus, our Advanced Technologies team is undertaking projects that are pushing the boundaries of nuclear technology and the domains of application,” he added.
