BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), the manufacturer of the nuclear reactors that power the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, is manufacturing the pressure vessel of Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH) small modular reactor, the BWRX-300 (Boiling Water Reactor, 300 megawatts). BWX was awarded a contract for the pressure vessel already in January 2025 and is currently manufacturing it in its facility in Ontario, Canada. GE Hitachi is building its first BWRX-300 at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington New Nuclear Project site. Construction is in full swing at the construction site while components are being manufactured at GE Hitachi’s facilities.
BWXT was already contracted by GEH to conduct related engineering analysis-and-design support for the RPV, and is the first company to join GEH’s BWRX-300 program. According to a press release issued by GEH, BWRX has its roots in the famous U.S. engineering company Babcock and Wilcox and has been manufacturing nuclear propulsion systems for the Navy for decades. Its partnership in the BWRX 300 promises a new and extensive product line. GEH, part of GE Vernova, already has a respectable order book for its reactor. The Darlington, Ontario site will eventually have four reactors. Similar projects are in the pipeline for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Poland, Estonia, and Sweden, which are in the planning stage.
