BWX Technologies’ microreactor was selected by Prodigy Clean Energy and two Canadian Indigenous tribes to be the technology for the Transportable Nuclear Power Plant at Belledune in New Brunswick, Canada.
The BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor – or BANR – is designed to be a high-temperature gas-cooled transportable microreactor with a generating capacity of 22 megawatts of electricity. The reactor will be powered by tristructural isotropic or – TRISO – fuel.
BWXT’s reactor selection came after Prodigy made plans public to build an Indigenous-led nuclear power plant that would have a generating capacity of up to 50 megawatts and be located within the traditional territory of the Pabineau and Eel River Bar First Nations, according to the Monday press release.
“The BWXT team is designing BANR to meet a variety of real-world heat and electricity demands that currently cannot be met without the use of carbon-emitting sources with complex fuel logistics,” John MacQuarrie, BWXT president of commercial operations, said in the release.
If deployed, the Transportable Nuclear Power Plant would power 40,000 homes, Prodigy said in September. Prodigy, Pabineau First Nation and Eel River Bar First hope to have that plant online by the 2030s.
BWXT said it is planning on getting its BANR reactors factory-built, shipped and installed in about 18 months, while “the facility arrives at the site fully assembled, ready for fueling and related fuel-in commissioning.”
The two BANR reactors, plus the nuclear and non-nuclear plant systems for the Belledune microreactor plant, will be fabricated at BWXT’s facilities in Ontario, Canada. The units will additionally be supported by various nuclear supply chain vendors, BWXT said.
BWXT Canada and Kinectrics, BWXT’s recently acquired subsidiary, will also provide its workforce for the project, according to the release.
“By joining forces with Prodigy and integrating BANR with Prodigy’s transportable platform design, we are truly expanding BWXT’s horizons for future customers while reinforcing Canada’s role at the forefront of innovative, deployable advanced nuclear energy solutions,” MacQuarrie said.