The US Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has exercised nearly $1 billion in contract options to BWX Technologies for the continued manufacture of nuclear reactor components and fuel.
As part of the first contract option, the company’s nuclear operations subsidiary will produce reactor components for the US Navy’s newest Columbia and Virginia-class submarines.
Nuclear reactors power many American submarines, freeing them from the need to surface frequently. The power source also enables the submarines to operate at high speed.
Nearly $840 million of the total contract value will be allocated for production, with the rest going to fuel manufacture and delivery and development work on future Naval Nuclear Propulsion programs.
“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,” BWX Technologies President Joel W. Duling said in a press release.
“For more than 65 years, we have enabled US sailors to fulfill their missions across the globe, while also supporting our communities here at home with thousands of manufacturing jobs.”
Work for the contract will be performed at BWX facilities in Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana. The first set of nuclear reactor components is expected to be ready by 2023.