BWX Technologies will invest $714.5 million in expanding its nuclear materials manufacturing facility in Jonesborough, Tennessee, creating 181 jobs and supporting the development of domestic high-purity depleted uranium production.
The project is supported by an economic development grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The investment and employment agreement was confirmed on 6 November, following an earlier federal decision to establish a dedicated manufacturing capability at the site.
The facility will produce high-purity depleted uranium metal for the United States Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which requires the material for national security programmes.
The November agreement represents a state-supported investment and workforce expansion milestone. It does not constitute a new award of the $1.6 billion federal contract that forms the basis of the manufacturing programme.
That ten-year contract was awarded to BWXT Ordnance Tennessee in September 2025. It covers the development, licensing and operation of a manufacturing capability intended to supply depleted uranium material to the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Y-12 undertakes specialist materials and manufacturing activities supporting the United States nuclear security mission. Establishing an additional domestic supply of high-purity depleted uranium is intended to address a production capability gap identified by NNSA.
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower concentration of uranium-235 than natural uranium, following the removal of part of that isotope during enrichment. The material retains chemical and radiological properties requiring appropriate controls during handling, processing and storage.
Its high density and other material characteristics make it suitable for specialised applications. The high-purity depleted uranium produced under the NNSA programme must meet defined requirements for its intended use, including material composition and manufacturing quality.
Supplying material consistently requires more than acquiring feedstock. The production operation must be capable of converting the available material into a specified product while maintaining the necessary records, controls and acceptance requirements.
Depleted uranium manufacturing involves specialised equipment and regulated industrial activities. The facility must provide suitable arrangements for environmental protection, occupational health, material management and the control of manufacturing operations.
The precise controls depend on the processes undertaken and the conditions under which the material is handled. Facility design and operating procedures must address both the chemical hazards of uranium and the radiological protection requirements associated with the material.
BWXT’s Jonesborough site already conducts depleted uranium operations. The federal programme is intended to establish an expanded high-purity production capability rather than introduce all uranium-related manufacturing activity to an entirely new location.
The site was previously operated by Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee before its acquisition by BWXT in January 2025. The company has since been developing plans to adapt and expand the operation for the NNSA production requirements.
Environmental assessment work has considered the additional infrastructure needed for the initial manufacturing stages. A supplemental assessment published in 2026 examined design changes involving support structures and arrangements intended to improve worker health and safety.
Those changes include proposed facilities associated with the wider manufacturing operation rather than simply an increase in output from existing equipment. The project has therefore involved further consideration of the infrastructure needed to support the selected processes.
NNSA has assessed separate stages of the manufacturing programme, including initial production arrangements and a subsequent increase in capability. A possible longer-term expansion to 300 metric tonnes annually has also been identified in federal documentation.
That future figure should not be presented as the capacity already operating at Jonesborough or as a fully assessed production stage. The 2026 supplemental environmental assessment states that additional environmental review would be needed for the proposed later expansion.
Similarly, the announcement of the $714.5 million investment does not establish that all equipment has been installed or that high-purity depleted uranium production has reached the programme’s eventual operating requirements.
The project must continue through the relevant construction, licensing, equipment preparation and manufacturing qualification stages before the intended capability is fully established.
The new employment commitment will add 181 positions, more than doubling BWXT’s existing local workforce. Tennessee has not published a detailed breakdown of those roles by production, engineering, maintenance or quality assurance activity.
Additional staff will be required to support the expanded industrial operation, including the management of manufacturing activities and the technical controls associated with the material being produced.
Jeff Messaros, general manager of BWXT Ordnance Tennessee, welcomed the state support for the investment and its anticipated contribution to the local economy.
The agreement is the third BWXT project to receive support through Tennessee’s Nuclear Energy Fund. Earlier commitments included a $45 million project in Oak Ridge and a $122 million expansion at Erwin, both announced in 2025.
Those investments involve different facilities and should not be combined with the Jonesborough development as if they formed one manufacturing contract. Together, they indicate the scale of BWXT’s ongoing industrial investment in the state.
The Nuclear Energy Fund was established to encourage investment in nuclear-related capabilities, with total state allocations reaching $95 million since its introduction. Tennessee reports that projects supported through the fund have generated commitments approaching 4,000 jobs and more than $10 billion in capital investment.
Those programme-wide figures cover multiple projects and companies, rather than employment or expenditure attributable solely to BWXT. The 181 jobs and $714.5 million investment are the commitments specifically associated with the latest Jonesborough agreement.
For NNSA, the manufacturing programme is intended to establish a reliable domestic source of high-purity depleted uranium for the activities undertaken at Y-12. Maintaining that supply requires qualified production arrangements and the ability to provide material meeting the required specifications.
The state’s November agreement supports the industrial development and workforce needed for that programme. The timing of future manufacturing milestones will depend on the completion of facility work, the applicable regulatory requirements and the readiness of the production operation.
BWXT has not announced a new completion date for the entire expansion in the state investment agreement. The confirmed development is the commitment to additional capital expenditure and employment at Jonesborough, supporting the federal manufacturing contract awarded in 2025.
