BWX Technologies has begun manufacturing the reactor core of Project Pele’s microreactor at its Innovation Campus in Lynchburg, Va., the company announced Thursday, in a press release.
Pele is a mobile gas-cooled demonstration microreactor with the ability to produce 1.5 megawatts. The microreactor, which will be used by the Department of Defense Strategic Capabilities Office, is expected to produce electricity by 2028.
The reactor and its systems will be placed in four 20-foot-long shipping containers allowing it to be transported to military bases and other installations. It can provide electricity for up to three years without refueling, according to the press release. TRISO fuel will be used in the microreactor.
BWXT has completed fabrication for the reactor’s TRISO fuel and will ship it to the Idaho National Laboratory in the coming months, according to the press release.
Additionally, Rolls-Royce is currently developing the reactor’s power module at its LibertyWorks facility in Indianapolis, Ind and Northrop Grumman will provide the reactor’s control module. The power conversion enables the microreactor to produce reliable mission-assured electric power in remote or contested locations, BWXT said.
“This is a tremendous achievement for the BWXT team and for the advancement of groundbreaking nuclear energy technology as a reliable, resilient source of electricity and heat for multiple applications,” Kate Kelly, president of BWXT Advanced Technologies, said in BWXT’s Thursday
