The expansion added 55,000 square feet and new manufacturing equipment. BWXT said it enlarged the world’s largest commercial nuclear clean room, located at the factory, by 40%.
Ontario plans to extend the operating lives of 10 reactors by decades and is building what BWXT says will be the first small modular reactor in the Group of Seven. BWXT said refurbishment and new reactor projects planned by Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power, two of its customers, are driving demand across Canada’s nuclear supply chain.
“By increasing our manufacturing capacity in Cambridge, we are helping ensure we have the industrial capability needed to support major nuclear projects, strengthen energy security, advance climate goals and compete in a growing global market,” said John MacQuarrie, president of BWXT Commercial Operations. The project began in 2024 and has created 200 long-term jobs, with the company aiming to hire another 200 workers in Cambridge over the next year.
Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson called the expansion “exactly the kind of progress our Nuclear Energy Strategy is designed to catalyze.” The strategy calls for building large and small reactors and supporting workers and businesses across the nuclear supply chain.
Ontario Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce said the province’s long-term plans to expand its power supply helped spur BWXT’s investment. “Ontario’s nuclear buildout is helping to reindustrialize Ontario as we drive manufacturing investment and jobs to the province,” he said.
