BWXT begins production of fuel for 1st U.S. microreactor

Part of $37M Project Pele

Published December 7, 2022 by Courtney Mabeus-Brown

Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies Inc. has begun producing the nuclear fuel that will power the first microreactor built and operated in the United States, the company announced Wednesday. 

BWXT will manufacture a nuclear core for Project Pele under a $37 million award from the Idaho National Laboratory, as well as tristructural isotropic particle fuel, known as TRISO, for additional reactors and coated particle fuel for NASA.

The Department of Energy calls TRISO “the most robust nuclear fuel on earth.” Its small, energy-dense coated uranium particles withstand high temperatures and enable smaller, more advanced reactor designs.  

The lab is providing technical support and oversight for the project. Fuel for the reactor will be blended down from federal stockpiles of high-enriched uranium (HEU) to high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and fabricated into TRISO fuel at the BWXT facility in Lynchburg. BWXT facilities are the only private facilities in the country licensed to possess and process HEU.

Tristructural refers to the three layers of carbon and ceramic materials that surround kernels or balls of HALEU fuel. Isotropic means the coatings have uniform characteristics in all directions. Fuel particles the size of a poppy seed are enriched to a level four times higher than fuel used in most of today’s commercial nuclear reactors. The coatings retain fission products, making each particle its own containment system. They also protect the fuel from the factors that most degrade performance in conventional reactors, including neutron irradiation, corrosion, oxidation and high temperatures.

“TRISO particle fuel is ideal for the next generation of reactors poised to help us meet our country’s clean energy goals,” U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Kathryn Huff said in a statement. “It is extremely exciting to see decades of DOE’s investments in TRISO fuel’s robust safety performance paying off to power many of the most innovative advanced reactor designs to be deployed within this decade.”

BWXT subsidiary BWXT Advanced Technologies LLC received a $300 million contract in June from the Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office to build the microreactor. The transportable reactor prototype is set to be delivered in 2024 and then tested at the Idaho National Laboratory for three years. It is designed to be safely transported in standard-sized shipping containers. Microreactors are designed to reduce the need for vulnerable fossil fuel deliveries relied on by the military, and also to provide power for disaster response and recovery, power generation in remote areas and deep decarbonization efforts. The DOD uses approximately 30 terawatt-hours of electricity annually and more than 10 million gallons of fuel per day. Fuel will be delivered to the lab separately.

“With supreme safety and performance characteristics, advanced nuclear fuels are the key enabler for fielding of next-generation reactor technologies,” BWXT President and CEO Rex D. Geveden said in a statement. “We are extremely pleased to initiate full-scale production of TRISO for the Pele program and further develop similar coated nuclear fuel technology for space exploration programs with NASA. This differentiating capability at BWXT results from a longstanding partnership with the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Lab, and it is gratifying to reach this milestone.”

The commercial production of TRISO is the culmination of more than 15 years of work with Idaho National Laboratory and other DOE labs in partnership with BWXT and has the potential for use in space applications and other advanced concepts, Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner said in a statement.

“As the United States moves steadily toward a carbon-free energy future, nuclear power is an essential part of the journey,” Wagner said. “Project Pele will demonstrate the viability of this fuel type, opening the door for other advanced reactors.”

BWXT has expanded its specialty coated fuels production manufacturing capacity through previously announced contracts funded by NASA and DOD with program management provided by the defense department. BWXT also makes specialty coated fuels for NASA.

“The high efficiency and high thrust provided by nuclear propulsion makes it an enabling capability for human missions to Mars,” James L. Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate said in a statement. “Advancing nuclear fuels and systems are key to achieving our exploration goals at Mars.”

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