Metal Powder Works and Westinghouse extend nuclear AM powders contract
Three-month follow-on agreement advances powder production scale-up and raises the Technology Readiness Level of components under development
Metal Powder Works, a Pittsburgh-based specialty materials company, has entered the third phase of its product development program with Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC), extending a multi-year collaboration focused on metal powder production for nuclear energy applications.
The follow-on contract, which will run for three months, comes as a direct result of WEC achieving successful outcomes across the two preceding development phases. Under the new agreement, MPW will work to further scale powder production capacity for Westinghouse while advancing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of components currently under development.
Westinghouse claims its technology is in use at 50% of operating nuclear plants worldwide.
“This follow-on contract with Westinghouse highlights the solid performance of our DirectPowder process and the hard work of our combined technical teams,” stated John Barnes, Managing Director at Metal Powder Works.
“This continued confidence from WEC highlights that our powder works as expected and can meet their exacting requirements, exceeding the capability of legacy atomized powder methods.”
MPW’s DirectPowder process converts metal bar stock into consistent powder feedstock for additive manufacturing, cold spray, and powder metallurgy applications without melting or contamination. The process underpins the company’s work with Westinghouse across all three phases of development.
Nuclear has been identified by industry analysts as the fastest-growing AM sub-sector within energy, driven by spare parts demand for aging reactor fleets and an expanding small modular reactor (SMR) pipeline.
