BWX Technologies' BANR selected for proposed Belledune plant of up to 50 MWe
Prodigy and two First Nations chose BANR, but BWXT disclosed no contract value and has yet to sign a definitive development agreement.
Ines Halvorsen
Early-2030s service for a proposed Belledune nuclear plant of up to 50 megawatts electric is Prodigy's target, as BWX Technologies, Inc. NYSEBWXT announced on Oct. 5 that its BANR reactor technology had been selected. The plan calls for two reactors rated at 22 megawatts electric each, but BWXT's Oct. 5 release discloses no contract value. Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd., Pabineau First Nation and Eel River Bar First Nation selected the technology; BWXT and Prodigy are working toward a definitive agreement.
The proposed agreement would cover development, engineering, licensing, supply chain integration, financing and deployment, according to BWXT's Oct. 5 release. It gives neither a reactor supply price nor a contract term, leaving shareholders without a revenue figure for the selection.
On Monday, shares of NYSEBWXT closed at US$135.35 in New York at 4:00:06 p.m. EDT. BWXT issued its release at 4:05 p.m. EDT on Oct. 5, after the close, leaving the next regular trading session as the first test of the news.
Prodigy's Sept. 1 proposal says the two First Nations would own the plant and that New Brunswick signed a letter of intent to buy its electricity. Neither that statement nor BWXT's Oct. 5 release discloses a price per megawatt-hour or an offtake duration. The province's letter of intent is the only prospective electricity sale described in those announcements.
“This Canadian pilot will serve as the reference to deploy a BANR-TNPP fleet across Northern, industrial and global energy markets,” Prodigy president and chief executive Mathias Trojer said in BWXT's release.
BANR Units Would Be Fabricated Mainly in Ontario
BWXT describes BANR as a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor designed for 75 megawatts thermal and 22 megawatts electric, using high-assay low-enriched uranium in TRISO fuel form. Those are reactor design specifications; BWXT's Oct. 5 statement does not reconcile the two reactor ratings with the proposal's up-to-50-megawatt plant target. BWXT Canada Ltd. and BWXT-owned Kinectrics are expected to support the plan; BWXT says the two units and other plant systems would be fabricated mainly at its Ontario facilities.
BWXT says the transportable plant can be factory-built and shipped, with installation targeted at about 18 months. Its Oct. 5 release gives no Ontario fabrication start date or fuel delivery date, so that installation target does not establish first power. Prodigy's early-2030s service target appeared in its Sept. 1 proposal, before BWXT's Oct. 5 announcement of the reactor selection.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission says a reactor applicant must show its site is suitable, and environmental effects are considered in the licensing process. Review time depends partly on the completeness of an application, the reactor design and unresolved safety issues. BWXT's Oct. 5 announcement identifies no licence for the Belledune plan and gives no date for a regulatory decision.
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The announcements give no date for the definitive agreement or a licensing decision, leaving Prodigy's early-2030s in-service target as the next stated timing for the proposed plant.
