BWXT to Construct Defense-Focused Enrichment Pilot Plant
BWX Technologies (BWXT) subsidiary Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. (NFS) has been awarded a contract by the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to construct a centrifuge pilot plant to ensure a domestic supply of enriched uranium for defense purposes.
According to the contract, NFS will complete year-long engineering research to assess options for deploying the pilot plant, which should be able to be repurposed for highly-enriched uranium.
NFS processes highly-enriched uranium to produce fuel for all naval nuclear reactors in US submarines and aircraft carriers. It also provides services on uranium enrichment to support commercial power needs and national security missions.
According to BWXT, the contract is the next stage of the project of the NNSA’s Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment project aimed at preserving and improving uranium enrichment expertise and technology for current and future US national security needs. The project was developed and managed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
According to NNSA, the US government currently lacks the ability to enrich uranium to support defense missions. This program is intended to establish prerequisites in time to meet national security needs using centrifuge technologies. There is a need to develop and demonstrate centrifuge technologies to better characterize performance, reliability and life-cycle costs prior to selecting a path forward for a production-scale capability.