Located in Lynchburg, Virginia (NRC Category 1-licensed site), our Specialty Fuel Facility is perfecting the fuel fabrication techniques required to support fuel production for future passively safe, compact nuclear reactors designed for the economic generation of electricity and hydrogen. Under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development Program, we have manufactured and certified TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO)-coated kernels and fuel compacts in production-scale quantities. We are the only U.S. company to have manufactured irradiation-tested uranium oxycarbide TRISO fuel using production-scale equipment. 

The DOE describes TRISO fuel as “the most robust nuclear fuel on Earth,” given its ability to withstand high temperatures, resist corrosion and act as its own containment system, critical in the design of the advanced nuclear reactors of tomorrow.  

We are designing and manufacturing TRISO fuel for the Department of Defense (DOD) Strategic Capabilities Office’s Pele program and evaluating the manufacture of TRISO fuel in support of the emerging advanced reactor market. 

BWXT’s existing TRISO fuel production line, coupled with ongoing capacity expansion, positions us to effectively meet the growing demand for DOD microreactors, space reactors and civil advanced reactors. By co-locating the TRISO production line with our existing uranium processing capabilities, BWXT has established a vertically integrated facility, capable of handling the entire TRISO fuel cycle, from feedstock preparation to uranium recovery and purification.