BWXT's microreactor gets a Canadian pilot site; a definitive deal and licensing come next

BWX Technologies has a site, partners and a power buyer for its first commercial microreactor project in Canada. What it does not yet have is a definitive agreement, a license or a firm in-service date, and those are the milestones that will decide how quickly the design moves from a pilot to a product line.

On Oct. 5, BWXT said its BANR microreactor had been selected by Prodigy Clean Energy, Pabineau First Nation and Eel River Bar First Nation for a transportable nuclear power plant planned in Belledune, New Brunswick. The Indigenous-led project would produce up to 50 megawatts electric and targets operation by the early 2030s. The Government of New Brunswick has signed a letter of intent to take the power.

BANR, short for BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor, is a high-temperature gas-cooled design rated at 75 megawatts thermal, or 22 megawatts electric, using high-assay low-enriched uranium in TRISO fuel. Prodigy's architecture packages reactors in factory-built, relocatable structures meant to arrive on site fully assembled and ready for fueling, with installation targeted at about 18 months.

The plan also leans on a fuel supply chain that is still being built. The design runs on high-assay low-enriched uranium, which is not yet produced at commercial scale, and a factory-built, transportable plant will still have to be licensed for this site. BWXT and Prodigy are working toward a definitive agreement covering development, engineering, licensing, supply chain, financing and deployment.

BWXT said the two BANR units and much of the balance of plant would be fabricated mainly at its Ontario facilities, with BWXT Canada and Kinectrics, a BWXT-owned company, supplying the workforce. Keeping much of the manufacturing in Canada is likely to help the project's political case; Ontario's energy minister welcomed the announcement.

"By joining forces with Prodigy and integrating BANR with Prodigy's transportable platform design, we are truly expanding BWXT's horizons for future customers," said John MacQuarrie, BWXT's president of commercial operations. Prodigy chief executive Mathias Trojer said the pilot would serve as the reference to deploy a fleet across Northern, industrial and global energy markets.

For now the core business carries the company. On Oct. 1 BWXT said its Nuclear Fuel Services unit in Erwin, Tenn., had won a contract of about $189 million to manufacture naval reactor fuel, with work scheduled through August 2027. The Belledune project offers investors a longer-dated option on commercial microreactors, with its value depending on the definitive agreement that comes next.