BWX Technologies, a Virginia-based company, is opening a 170,000 square-foot facility dedicated to advanced nuclear technology in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The new labs and workspaces will be used for NASA, the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, national research labs, state government and commercial use, according to the company’s March 26 press release.
BWXT has worked closely with NASA and DOE for multiple years, including its efforts working on the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion design in 2017. In 2023, BWXT became a part of a joint program with DARPA and NASA to develop a nuclear thermal rocket engine for an in-space demonstration.
The company’s Advanced Technologies team is also working on the BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor, a high-temperature gas reactor that will be designed to produce 50 megawatts with TRISO fuel and small enough to be transported on a rail, ship or truck.
BWX Technologies CEO Rex Geveden said in the press release that the opening of its Innovation Campus is a long-term investment for the company, city of Lynchburg and the state of Virginia. He said the company’s Advanced Technologies will assume a lot of projects in nuclear technology development.
Other work at the facility will include Project Pele, a demonstration mobile microreactor for the Department of Defense designed by BWXT, according to the release.
