BWX Technologies (BWXT) Risk Analysis

We operate large manufacturing facilities and perform services in large commercial power plants where accidents or system failures can have significant consequences. Risks inherent in our operations include: - accidents resulting in injury or the loss of life or property;- environmental or toxic tort claims, including delayed manifestation claims for personal injury or loss of life;- pollution or other environmental mishaps;- natural disasters;- adverse weather conditions;- mechanical or design failures;- property losses;- business interruption due to political action in foreign countries or other reasons; and - labor stoppages. Any accident or failure at a site where we have provided products or services could result in significant professional liability, product liability, warranty and other claims against us, regardless of whether our products or services caused the incident. We have been, and in the future we may be, named as defendants in lawsuits asserting large claims as a result of litigation arising from events such as those listed above. We endeavor to identify and obtain, in established markets, insurance agreements to cover significant risks and liabilities. Insurance against some of the risks inherent in our operations is either unavailable or available only at rates or on terms that we consider uneconomical. Also, catastrophic events customarily result in decreased coverage limits, more limited coverage, additional exclusions in coverage, increased premium costs and increased deductibles and self-insured retentions. Risks that we have frequently found difficult to cost-effectively insure against include, but are not limited to, business interruption, property losses from wind, flood and earthquake events, nuclear hazards, war, pollution liability, liabilities related to occupational health exposures (including asbestos), professional liability/errors and omissions coverage, the failure, misuse or unavailability of our information systems, the failure of security measures designed to protect our information systems from security breaches, and liability related to risk of loss of our work in progress and customer-owned materials in our care, custody and control. Depending on competitive conditions and other factors, we endeavor to obtain contractual protection against certain uninsured risks from our customers. When obtained, such contractual indemnification protection may not be as broad as we desire or may not be supported by adequate insurance maintained by the customer. Such insurance or contractual indemnity protection may not be sufficient or effective under all circumstances or against all hazards to which we may be subject. A successful claim for which we are not insured or for which we are underinsured could have a material adverse effect on us. Additionally, disputes with insurance carriers over coverage may affect the timing of cash flows and, if litigation with the carrier becomes necessary, an outcome unfavorable to us may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We are also involved in management and operating activities for the U.S. Government. These activities involve, among other things, handling nuclear devices and their components for the U.S. Government. Most insurable liabilities arising from these sites are not protected in our corporate insurance program. Instead, we rely on government contractual agreements, including a U.S. Government-provided nuclear indemnity (see the below discussion regarding the Price-Anderson Act), some insurance purchased specifically for the sites and certain specialized self-insurance programs funded by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government has historically fulfilled its contractual agreement to reimburse for insurable claims, and we expect it to continue this process. However, it should be noted that, in most situations, the U.S. Government is contractually obligated to pay subject to the availability of authorized government funds. The reimbursement obligation of the U.S. Government is also conditional, and provisions of the relevant contract or applicable law may preclude reimbursement. We have a captive insurance company subsidiary that provides us with various insurance coverages. Claims, as a result of our operations, could adversely impact the ability of our captive insurance company subsidiary to respond to all claims presented. Although we have product liability insurance coverage, with policy limits that we believe are customary for the medical radioisotope industry, such coverage may not be adequate, requiring that we pay judgments or settlement amounts in excess of policy limits. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at adequate levels. Any product liability claims could be costly to defend, time-consuming and result in adverse judgments, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and results of operations. Additionally, upon the February 22, 2006 effectiveness of the settlement relating to the Chapter 11 proceedings involving several of our former subsidiaries, most of our subsidiaries contributed substantial insurance rights providing coverage for, among other things, asbestos and other personal injury claims, to an asbestos personal injury trust. With the contribution of these insurance rights to the asbestos personal injury trust, we may have underinsured or uninsured exposure for non-derivative asbestos claims or other personal injury or other claims that would have been insured under these coverages had the insurance rights not been contributed to the asbestos personal injury trust. In conjunction with the spin-off, claims and liabilities associated with the asbestos personal injury, property damage and indirect property damage claims mentioned above have been expressly assumed by BWE pursuant to the master separation agreement between us and BWE.