The Department of Energy’s Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program in late 2019 awarded BWX Technologies [BWXT] a roughly $1 billion contract to provide reactor components for Ford-class aircraft carriers, the Lynchburg, Va.-based company said Monday.
The $1 billion figure includes options, BWX Technologies said in a press release. The value of the base award, at over
$665 million, is around two-thirds of the contract’s total potential value. The company did not disclose the performance period of the base period or the options.
BWX Technologies, through its Nuclear Operations Group, is the Navy’s sole supplier of all reactor components that come into contact with nuclear fuel. The company also provides fuel for the Navy through its Nuclear Fuel Services subsidiary, based in Erwin, Tenn. DoE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) owns the naval labs contract.
Including options, BWX Technologies has put close to $4 billion of nuclear reactor business on the books since 2019, the company said Monday. Previously awarded contracts covered procurement of reactors parts planned for use in the power plants of future Virginia-class attack submarines and Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines.
The Navy is procuring 12 Columbia-class vessels to replace the current fleet of 14 Ohio-class subs as the seaborne leg of the nuclear triad. General Dynamics [GD] Electric Boat is scheduled to start building the first Columbia boat in 2021; the submarine is slated to go on patrol in 2031.