BWXT bets $714.5 million on what will be the only US plant making weapons uranium

On November 6, Tennessee signed an agreement↗ backing a $714.5 million expansion by nuclear-parts maker BWX Technologies▲+3.51% — BWX Technologies, up 3.51 percent today (NYSE: BWXT↗) at Jonesborough: 181 new jobs, more than double the local workforce, to make high-purity depleted uranium (HPDU) metal for the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Energy Department's nuclear-security agency ²³. Once complete, it will be the only active US site capable of the process for the government ²³.

The work sits under a 10-year, $1.6 billion contract the NNSA awarded in September 2025, and construction on a 325,000-square-foot facility has already begun ²³⁹. The state is paying a grant from its $95 million Nuclear Energy Fund, BWXT's third project there after Oak Ridge and Erwin ²³.

The town says it was never notified

The night before the signing, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and BWXT took questions in Jonesborough on the plant's air permit↗ ¹. The operating line: the plant runs as long as it emits no more than 94 pounds a year ¹.

Jeff Messaros, president and CEO of BWXT Ordnance Tennessee, the former Aerojet Ordinance Tennessee site BWXT bought in 2025, described scrubbers for hydrochloric acid and nitric acid compounds ¹³.

Resident Joe Roylston told officials: "We were not notified. We would fill these courtrooms if we were notified." ¹ TDEC's next step is in-house review; it must approve the permit if the application meets state code ¹.

The county voted 10 to 5 over 10,000 signatures

Washington County approved the rezoning in March 2026↗ by 10 votes to 5, past a petition of more than 10,000 names; residents cite Hurricane Helene flood damage six miles away and hazardous-material trucks passing a high school, and a community coalition has retained a lawyer ⁸. BWXT's counter: even with every control failing, emissions would run about 250 pounds a year, uranium particulates "in the order of grams," against a projected $55 average wage and $176 million a year of local output ⁸.

The commercial book shrank the same week

Third-quarter bookings↗ (new orders) fell to $538 million from $2.25 billion a year earlier, a gap largely explained by lumpy naval awards, and the first order for a new US power reactor's equipment slipped toward the first half of 2027 ⁴.

Backlog still grew, to $8.56 billion, carried by the government side: that segment's operating income rose 26 percent on 4 percent revenue growth ⁴. A holder who bought BWXT as an AI-power growth story now owns a company whose growth runs on the federal weapons complex.

The shares now trade near $119.52, against $173.50 after the August report ⁴⁷.

On November 4, BWXT launched $500 million of senior notes due 2034↗ to refinance 2028 and 2029 debt, as The Inference reported; total debt had already climbed from $1.06 billion at end-2024 to $2.02 billion ⁵⁶.

One air permit is the gate $2.3 billion cannot buy

The grant amount posts to the state's transparency site within 30 days ⁹. The air permit is the last state gate, which TDEC must approve if the application meets state code ¹. For the shares, the tell is whether the first commercial new-build order lands by the first half of 2027 ⁴.

Tennessee has $95 million in its fund and Washington has $1.6 billion on the contract; the gate neither of them controls is one air permit in Jonesborough ¹².