BWX Technologies

BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT) was established as an independent publicly traded company on July 1, 2015, when it was spun off from Babcock & Wilcox Company as Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises separated its nuclear operations into a distinct entity. Its institutional roots trace back much further: the company’s predecessor built the first nuclear reactor to power a US Navy submarine (USS Nautilus, 1954) and has been the sole supplier of naval nuclear reactors to the US Navy for over 70 years. Headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia, BWX Technologies is led by CEO Rex Geveden, who took the helm in 2019 after serving at NASA and in senior roles at the company.

BWX Technologies operates across three core segments. Its Government Operations segment is the company’s largest business, producing components and providing life-of-ship reactor systems for all US nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers under long-term contracts with the US Navy. Its Nuclear Power Group designs and manufactures components for commercial nuclear power plants globally. Its Advanced Technologies segment is the growth engine, developing TRISO fuel (the tristructural isotropic coated particle fuel also used by Kairos Power, X-energy, and Radiant), microreactors for DOD forward operating bases, nuclear propulsion systems for NASA deep-space missions, and medical isotope production capabilities. The company also produces enriched uranium products and provides decontamination and decommissioning services.

BWX Technologies is a mature, profitable public company with approximately 7,500 employees and annual revenues exceeding $2.5 billion. It is funded primarily through long-term government contracts rather than venture capital. Major customers include the US Navy, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and NASA. The company has no single ‘founder’ in the startup sense, but its technical lineage connects directly to the earliest days of the US nuclear Navy program and the first-generation commercial reactor industry.

BWX Technologies’ strategic relevance to the advanced nuclear renaissance is significant: as the sole manufacturer of naval reactors and a leading TRISO fuel producer, the company is positioned as a critical supply chain enabler for the next generation of advanced civilian reactors. In 2022, it was awarded a DOE contract to produce TRISO fuel for the DOE’s domestic supply effort. It is also developing the Department of Defense’s Project Pele mobile microreactor and has been selected for NASA’s fission surface power program, which aims to land a nuclear reactor on the Moon.