BWXT team lands $30B federal nuclear contract

A joint venture led by a Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies subsidiary has been awarded a potential $30 billion Department of Energy contract to operate a nuclear weapons plant in Texas, the company announced Friday.

The DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration awarded the contract to PanTeXas Deterrence (PXD), a joint venture led by BWXT’s Technical Services Group that also includes Arlington County-based Fluor Federal Services, Chantilly-based SOC and the Texas A&M University system. The group will manage and operate the Pantex plant, a facility near Amarillo, Texas, that is responsible for maintaining the safety, security and effectiveness of the United States’ nuclear weapons stockpile, according to BWXT.

The contract includes an initial term of five years, and afterwards, NNSA can award three more five-year option periods. If all options are exercised, the contract will span 20 years at approximately $30 billion. The joint venture will assume operations at Pantex after a four-month transition period expected to begin in mid-July, according to the NNSA. The estimated value of the contract is $1.5 billion a year.

A Tennessee-based joint venture, Consolidated Nuclear Security — led by Bechtel National, a subsidiary of Reston-based Bechtel Corp., and including Reston-based Leidos as a minority member — currently holds the contract for Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. CNS’ Pantex contract portion expires Sept. 30, according to the NNSA.

The work at Pantex includes nuclear weapons surveillance, assembly and dismantlement, as well as support of the weapons’ life extension programs, according to BWXT. Other tasks involve development and fabrication of high explosive components and storage and surveillance of plutonium pits.

“This is an important contract win for us and leverages our unique core competencies and capabilities in nuclear operations,” said Heatherly H. Dukes, president of BWXT’s Technical Services Group. “The PanTeXas Deterrence team was purpose-built to bring the very best of industry experience together to meet crucial global security imperatives. We look forward to getting started with a strong emphasis on safe and secure operations in full support of NNSA’s integrated Nuclear Security Enterprise.”

In February, the Pantex plant was in the news as a fast-moving wildfire in the Texas Panhandle threatened the facility. According to the Associated Press, Pantex is one of six production facilities in the NNSA’s Nuclear Security Enterprise, and has been the main U.S. site for assembling and disassembling atomic bombs since 1975. The last time Pantex produced a new bomb was in 1991.