BWXT unveils new 'Innovation Campus' in Lynchburg to advance nuclear energy technologies
LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) — BWXT helps power the U.S. Navy, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, NASA and more, and they’re continuing to expand in the Commonwealth. They held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, March 26, for their Innovation Campus on Mount Athos Rd.
The campus features laboratories that will focus on designing, building and testing advanced nuclear systems. From navy ships to space exploration, Governor Glenn Youngkin said the Commonwealth is at the forefront of nuclear energy expansion.
I’ve been such a proponent for Virginia to lead the way, and Virginia is leading the way,” Youngkin said. “That’s what we’re seeing today at BWXT.”
The innovation campus is bringing dozens of new jobs and has a focus on the future. The 200,000 square feet of labs provide a designated space for their advanced technologies division to focus on carbon-free energy solutions.
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“Developing advanced nuclear fuels, advanced nuclear reactors, using data science and ai to advance nuclear problem solving. It’s the realization of a dream,” Rex Geveden, BWXT’s President and CEO, said.
BWXT said they’re looking forward to the future of clean and reliable energy.
Energy security is what we’re focusing on,” Joe Miller, President of BWXT’s Advanced Technologies division, said. “Providing national security and looking into the future. How these nuclear products that are being built up here in Lynchburg can be deployed in the United States and worldwide.”
Governor Youngkin said Lynchburg is at the heart of the nuclear renaissance.
“Our ability to deliver innovation and to deliver that next generation of baseload power that is affordable, reliable and clean, is represented right here,” he said. “We are at a moment where we have to find that next big step of innovation so that power will be affordable and reliable, and increasingly clean. We need baseload, reliable power and nuclear is the answer.”