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BWX Technologies is a leader in nuclear engineering with a 75-year history of building nuclear propulsion systems.
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The company is well-positioned to offer small modular reactors and microreactors to public and private buyers.
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It has a strong balance sheet and rapid, consistent revenue growth.
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If you read any of my other articles here, you’ll see that I’m a bit obsessed with nuclear power.
That’s because nuclear energy is enjoying a long-deserved renaissance after decades of being rejected by politicians on both sides of the aisle and ignored by green energy advocates who favored solar or wind power.
Because, just considering the energy needs of artificial intelligence (AI), we will need a lot of electricity, and we will need to produce it safely, cleanly and reliably. Check all three boxes.
The first is safety, which is a legitimate concern about nuclear energy. According to Our World in Data, nuclear energy is the second-safest energy option after solar energy.
Taking into account air pollution and accidents, nuclear energy resulted in just 0.03 deaths per terawatt hour of electricity generated, compared with 24.6 deaths from coal and 18.4 deaths from oil. Solar energy has only 0.01 fewer deaths per terawatt hour than nuclear energy.
When it comes to carbon emissions, there’s no debate: nuclear energy is by far the cleanest option. Over their lifetime, solar power plants will produce an average of 53 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, wind farms will produce 11 tons, and nuclear power plants will produce only 6 tons. The average life of a nuclear reactor is 40 years, nearly twice the average 25 years of a wind turbine or solar panel.
Finally, nuclear power plants can operate at peak output 92% of the time, while wind and solar can only achieve 35% and 24% respectively.
2025 is a great year for nuclear, but I think the growth phase is just beginning. According to my math, the best way is Bowie Core Technology (NYSE: BWXT).
BWX’s primary business is providing marine nuclear propulsion systems to the U.S. Navy. It has built more than 400 offshore nuclear reactors since the 1950s. This provides a stable and reliable source of revenue for the company developing cutting-edge nuclear technology, small modular reactors (SMRs).
The company’s BANR microreactor is a good example of SMR. It can be built in sections at a factory, shipped out by road or rail, and then constructed at the final destination. From there, it can generate up to 50 megawatts of power in a plant a fraction of the size of a conventional nuclear power plant, and without the same water cooling infrastructure.
The American Society of Civil Engineers emphasizes that SMRs like BWX’s BANR will be the perfect solution for data center energy needs. This makes sense: Place an SMR in the middle of a bunch of data centers, and they can provide near-continuous power without increasing demand on the local grid.
While SMRs are cool, the U.S. government is aiming to go even smaller and is working with BWX Technologies to develop Project Pele, a microreactor that can be mounted on a truck. The idea is to create a mobile nuclear reactor that can be installed and dismantled to power forward operating bases for troops on the move. The core of the first prototype is currently under construction.
And BWX doesn’t suffer from the same problems that many other SMR companies face. That said, it’s not a startup. BWX is a profitable company with rapidly growing revenue. This makes it the safest option for SMR technology on the market today and a compelling option for the wider nuclear power sector.
In BWX’s latest quarter (Q3 2025), its revenue was $866 million, up 29% from Q3 2024. This contributed to a 20% increase in earnings per share (EPS) and a 10% increase in net profit margin during the same period.
To put things into perspective, BWX’s revenue has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6% over the past three years. It also beats earnings estimates regularly and has done so in each of the last five quarters.
Finally, to add to the benefits of long-term buy-and-hold, BWX Technologies also pays an annual dividend of $1 per share, yielding just under 0.5% at current prices. However, the company has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years, with the dividend yield reaching 5.6% over the past five years.
If you can only make a single investment in nuclear power, BWX Technologies makes a compelling case with its expertise in designing small, high-efficiency reactors, its longstanding relationship with the U.S. military, and its strong financial position. At least it’s certainly worth watching.
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James Hires works at BWX Technologies. The Motley Fool has an open position and recommends BWX Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
1 Great Energy Stock to Buy Now Ahead of the Next Phase of America’s Nuclear Renaissance Originally published by The Motley Fool