The Wyoming Energy Authority awarded BWX Technologies Inc. a multimillion-dollar contract to develop small nuclear reactors to address power grid issues in the Powder River Basin.
To counter a federal attempt to shut down its lucrative coal mining sector in the energy-rich Powder River Basin, Wyoming is strengthening its relationship with a major submarine power plant manufacturer to assess the feasibility of constructing small nuclear reactors to supplement the grid’s lack of power.
The Wyoming Energy Authority announced on Monday that Virginia-based BWX Technologies Inc. has been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to commence the next phase of the previous year’s work to advance the design of its emerging tiny reactor, which may be able to meet the unique requirements of potential end users in Wyoming, such as the trona mining operations in southwestern Wyoming.
The main business of BWX Technologies is producing small nuclear reactors for the submarine fleet of the United States Navy.
According to those familiar with the agreement, the contract was anticipated because Gov. Mark Gordon had bragged about the state’s nuclear friendliness to BWX Technologies during a recent visit to Virginia and a videoconferencing presentation at an Alaskan trade conference.
Nearly $10 million was given to BWX Technologies in August of last year, split between the two stages of the contract that the WEA’s Energy Matching Funds program granted.
Rob Creager, the director of WEA, was unavailable to discuss the importance of the contract.
A BANR Move
When the original agreement was made last year, BWXT Technologies and the WEA announced a two-year, two-phase contract to evaluate the feasibility of putting small-scale nuclear reactors in the state as a dependable source of energy to supplement current power generation sources.
The commercial microreactor that BWX Technologies hopes to construct for the electrical grid is a repurposing of a military device that the Virginia contractor still needs to test at the Department of Energy’s top laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, located in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The new reactor, known as the BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor, or BANR, is a factory-fabricated, modular system that is lightweight and small enough to be moved by truck, rail, or ship. It can produce roughly 9,000 homes’ worth of electricity or 50 megawatts of nuclear power.
According to BWX Technologies spokesman Jud Simmons, “BWXT has been in conversations with representatives from several states to talk about how our BANR microreactor could fit into their states’ clean energy plans.”
“However, our cost-share contract with Wyoming is the only such formal agreement that we have with a state at this time,” Simmons told Cowboy State Daily.
To “validate the supply chain activities” finished in the previous phase, a showcase of Wyoming manufacturers’ capabilities would also be carried out in this subsequent phase.
Nuclear State
Following billionaire Bill Gates’ historic visit to Kemmerer, Wyoming, for the groundbreaking of TerraPower’s $4 billion Natrium nuclear reactor project, an announcement was made.
Most residents of the little town of 2,400 people appear to view the nuclear reactor that Bellevue, Washington-based TerraPower LLC is constructing as a ray of hope for the city, which will have to close its 60-year-old power plant within the next ten years.
In addition to the shortage of accommodation for the 1,600 workers coming to town to build the plant, the city, which operates the only unionized coal mine in Wyoming, is experiencing growing pains because permanent housing is required for long-term projects to be situated near Naughton and the TerraPower project.
Northeastern Wyoming is going through a difficult period as a result of the federal government’s pressure to phase down coal-fired power stations and end coal mining on public lands by 2041. This includes the BWX Technologies reactor project.
Wyoming has opened up a second front to bring a nuclear reactor to the state. A portion of the microreactor supply chain has already begun to take shape thanks to BWX Technologies.
Lining Up
Collaborations with Tata Chemicals Soda Ash Partners LLC in southwest Wyoming and Gillette-based L&H Industrial, a 60-year-old industrial machinery company in the center of the region’s vast grassland terrain that is home to numerous coal mines, have been announced thus far.
According to Simmons, BWX Technologies intends to publish at least one request for proposals that is open to competitive bidding, which will involve Wyoming vendors in projects associated with its development initiative.
In April, Cowboy State Daily was informed by L&H CEO Mike Wandler and Marcio Paes Barreto, managing director of a recently formed L&H business unit called Evercore Energy, that L&H had teamed up with nuclear technology pioneer BWX Technologies in a historic agreement to establish a multibillion-dollar industry in the field of micro nuclear reactors.
The ultimate goal of Wyoming is to create a one-stop shop in the Cowboy State that can handle anything from producing reactor vessels, specialty fences, and electrical control panels to pouring concrete, installing pipes, and wiring needed to construct containment buildings.
In addition, L&H intends to run the micro nuclear reactors and lease the energy they produce. It also hopes to offer consultancy services.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, the world’s largest, sits dormant amidst global energy demands. Despite Japan’s goal to derive 50% of its energy from nuclear sources by 2030, the plant has remained inactive since the Fukushima disaster.