B&W has over 140 years of manufacturing and operations for civilian, national security and high-consequence applications.

1856

Water Tube Boiler
  • Stephen Wilcox patents the water tube boiler

1867

  • Stephen Wilcox and George Babcock establishes Babcock, Wilcox & Company to manufacture and market the water tube boiler

1881

First installed utility boiler
  • First installed utility boiler made by B&W

1902

  • New York City's first subway is powered by B&W boilers

1903

  • The Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago is the first utility station to use steam turbines exclusively for electric power generation

1907-09

Great White Fleet
  • Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet powered by B&W Boilers

1918

  • First pulverized coal plant made by B&W

1929

  • B&W installs the world's first commercial size recovery boiler using the magnesium bisulfite process in Quebec, Canada

1930s

  • B&W introduces the integral furnace boiler,
  • the Kraft recovery boiler,
  • the radiant boiler,
  • and the open-pass boiler

1935

  • B&W sold and placed into service the first "black liquor" recovery boiler in the USA which used a by-product of the pulping process as fuel.

1941–45

  • Designed and delivered 4,100 marine boilers for combat and merchant ships including 95 percent of US fleet in Tokyo Bay at Japanese surrender

1943–45

Manhattan Project
  • Provided components, materials and process development for Manhattan Project

1945

U.S. Fleet in Tokyo Bay
  • Over 95 percent of U.S. Fleet in Tokyo Bay at Japanese surrender are powered by B&W boilers

1946

  • Awarded first contract to research propulsion systems for US Navy

1953–55

USS Nautilus
  • Designed and fabricated components for USS Nautilus, world’s first nuclear-powered submarine

1956

  • Designed and built first privately licensed commercial Critical Experiment Laboratory and began operations at Lynchburg Resource Center, the first privately financed US nuclear facility

1957

Supercritical Pressure Coal-Fired Boiler
  • First supercritical pressure coal-fired boiler made by B&W

1960s-Present

Heavy nuclear components
  • B&W designs & manufactures heavy nuclear components for new, re-emerging commercial nuclear power

1961

  • Designed and supplied reactors for world’s first commercial nuclear ship NS Savannah

1962

  • Designed and furnished reactor systems for first commercial reactor, Indian Point, using HEU 233

1964

  • Concluded design work on Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

1966

  • Initiated design and fabrication of components for Nimitz-class aircraft carriers

1967

TVA Boiler
  • Largest boiler (1300 MW) built for TVA

1973

Coal-fired emissions controls
  • B&W leader in coal-fired emissions environmental controls for SOx, NOx, Mercury

1975

  • Designed and built components for liquid metal fast breeder reactor

1981

  • Began fabricating research and test reactor fuel for universities and national laboratories

1981–85

  • Decontaminated and decommissioned first commercial plutonium laboratory in the US

1987

  • Awarded contract for design space nuclear thermal propulsion system

1991

  • Selected to manage and operate Specific Manufacturing Capability (SMC) at INEEL

1993

  • Issued patent for solar bi-modal space power and propulsion system
  • Initiated design and fabrication of heavy-equipment components for Virginia-class submarine
  • Awarded M&O contract of Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of DynMcDermott

1994

  • Awarded first major site M&O contract at DOE's INEEL as part of winning team

1995

  • Awarded contract to downblend HEU from Project Sapphire
  • Opened the Clean Coal Environmental Development Facility (CEDF) a state-of-the-art combustion and emissions testing facility

1996

  • Initiated conceptual design studies for CVN-21

1997

  • Awarded first prime contract to manage, operate Mound, a DOE site
  • Completed environmental remediation of former nuclear fuels plant in Apollo, PA

1983-Present

D&D Nuclear Material Stabilization
  • Environmental Management: D&D Nuclear Material Stabilization

1998-2006

Downblending HEU from U.S. nuclear weapons
  • Nuclear Non- proliferation: downblending HEU from U.S. nuclear weapons

1999

  • Awarded contract to develop fuel cells and hydrogen reformers for US Navy

2000

Y12 Image1
  • Awarded contract to manage and operate Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, TN
  • Awarded contract to manage and operate Pantex Plant in Amarillo, TX
  • Designed and fabricated largest superconducting magnet in the US

2000-Present

DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex & Laboratory
  • DOE Nuclear Weapons Complex & Laboratory Nuclear Operations

2000-2006

  • B&W and certain of its subsidiaries filed a voluntary petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to reorganize under Chapter 11

2001

  • Completed first D&D of a commercial plutonium production facility in Parks Township, PA

2002

  • Established SOFCo, dedicated to fuel cell deployment

2003

  • Supporting development of reactor plant for Jupitor Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO)
  • Awarded, for a second time, a M&O contract for Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of DynMcDermott

2004

  • Awarded contract to manage and operate Idaho National Laboratory as part of Battelle Energy Alliance

2005

  • Awarded contract to manage and operate Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of Los Alamos National Security, LLC

2006

Oxy-fuel technology for carbon capture
  • B&W developing oxy-fuel technology for carbon capture

2007

  • Consolidation of B&W and BWXT operations, under the name The Babcock & Wilcox Company. Formation of Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Power Generation Group, Inc.