BWXT BANR Microreactor Selected for Belledune Transportable Nuclear Plant

BWX Technologies (BWXT ) announced on October 5, 2026, that Prodigy Clean Energy Ltd., Pabineau First Nation and Eel River Bar First Nation have selected its BANR microreactor technology for a Transportable Nuclear Power Plant (TNPP) to be located in Belledune, New Brunswick. Two BANR units and other plant systems for the project will be principally fabricated at BWXT’s facilities in Ontario.

According to BWXT’s announcement, the plant would be an up to 50 megawatts electric full-scale Prodigy TNPP within the traditional territory of the Pabineau and Eel River Bar First Nations. The pilot project will be Indigenous-owned and is intended to validate plant logistics and operational requirements, creating the commercial blueprint to mass deploy a TNPP fleet across Canada’s North and global export markets. The project targets in-service operation by the early 2030s. The Government of New Brunswick has provided Prodigy and the First Nations with a signed Letter of Intent to offtake the generated electricity.

BANR Design and Ontario Fabrication Scope

BWXT describes the BWXT Advanced Nuclear Reactor, or BANR, as a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor intended to produce 75 megawatts thermal, or 22 MWe, using high-assay low-enriched uranium in a TRISO fuel form. The BANR design features passive cooling and flexible power conversion options.

“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,” said John MacQuarrie, BWXT president of Commercial Operations. MacQuarrie said that integrating BANR with Prodigy’s transportable platform design expands the company’s horizons for future customers while reinforcing Canada’s role in deployable advanced nuclear energy.

Prodigy’s TNPP architecture is engineered to package reactors for safe and secure deployment over their multi-decade lifecycle, according to BWXT, and the modular power plant infrastructure can integrate a single or multiple BANR reactors. The company states that BANR-TNPPs can be factory-built and shipped, with installation targeted at about 18 months, and that the facility arrives at the site fully assembled, ready for fueling and related fuel-in commissioning.

“BWXT’s BANR is a best-in-class advanced nuclear technology with a credible pathway to delivering the G7’s first commercially operating Transportable Nuclear Power Plant,” said Mathias Trojer, president and CEO of Prodigy Clean Energy. Trojer said the Canadian pilot will serve as the reference project to deploy a BANR-TNPP fleet across Northern, industrial and global energy markets.

The two BANR units and other nuclear and non-nuclear balance of plant systems for the Belledune TNPP will be principally fabricated at BWXT’s Ontario facilities with support from established and new nuclear supply chain vendors. BWXT Canada Ltd. and Kinectrics Inc., a BWXT-owned company, will deploy a skilled Canadian workforce to support the project, which BWXT said is enabled by the significant scale-up in the industry from CANDU refurbishment and new build projects.

John D’Angelo, president of Kinectrics, said the company brings engineering depth, regulatory insight and delivery experience to the Canadian-led program as Prodigy’s TNPPs advance toward commercial implementation, and said Kinectrics adds scale and trust to the project’s supply chain.

Ontario Energy Minister Stephen Lecce welcomed the announcement. In a statement carried in BWXT’s release, Lecce said Ontario has spent more than 60 years building its nuclear industry, that development of a Canadian-made Transportable Nuclear Power Plant represents the first commercially operating microreactor in the G7, and that Ontario’s nuclear expansion plan will create 150,000 jobs.

BWXT and Prodigy are working toward a definitive agreement for cooperative project development, engineering, licensing, supply chain integration, financing and deployment of BANR-TNPPs. The companies will target commercial, industrial and defense energy projects globally for future applications.

September Agreement and Licensing Path

Pabineau First Nation, Eel River Bar First Nation and Prodigy Clean Energy first announced the Indigenous-led nuclear new build proposal in Belledune on September 1, 2026, under an exclusive Agreement among the partners, according to Prodigy’s project announcement. Prodigy stated that at peak output the TNPP will supply clean baseload energy to power up to 40,000 homes. The company said the Government of New Brunswick formally notified Natural Resources Canada of its institutional support and its intent to advance the project to Canada’s federal Major Projects Office as a nationally transformative infrastructure initiative.

Prodigy describes its TNPP as a proprietary, reactor-agnostic Canadian technology engineered to package microreactors and small modular reactors for coastal marine or land installation. According to the company, TNPPs are dry carried as cargo by heavy lift ship from factory to deployment site and are purpose-designed to be completely removed at the end of their operational life for centralized decommissioning.

The proposed Belledune campus is planned to include a centralized Operations and Maintenance hub to monitor and service a Northern TNPP fleet and train future plant workers, along with an Indigenous Energy Innovation Visitor Centre. Prodigy said the power plant is expected to generate over 150 jobs during site preparation and 40 permanent jobs on site.

In the September announcement, Prodigy said the project team would establish the proponent venture organization, initiate site selection and characterization in readiness for licensing, and finalize the down selection of a reactor technology demonstrably ready by 2032 for commercial electricity generation. Prodigy described those steps as laying the groundwork for a Licence to Prepare Site application, with the objective of achieving a Final Investment Decision within 18 months, and said a qualified nuclear operating organization will be procured during the initial planning phase to become the facility licensee. BWXT’s October 5 announcement names BANR as the selected reactor technology.