History

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

1856	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 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	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	Provided components, materials and process development for Manhattan Project
1945	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	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	First supercritical pressure coal-fired boiler made by B&W
1960s-Present	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	Largest boiler (1300 MW) built for TVA
1973	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	Environmental Management: D&D Nuclear Material Stabilization
1998-2006	Nuclear Non- proliferation: downblending HEU from U.S. nuclear weapons
1999	Awarded contract to develop fuel cells and hydrogen reformers for US Navy
2000	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 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	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.