We do see exactly what you said, which is a positive growth of working capital next year. for 2024. So we’re going to have the rate of the EBITDA that will kick in, that will help free cash flow to grow in line with that. Then we have the steam generator contract that we’ve talked about in the end that should free up some working capital and should be a positive. So we see all the trends pointing in the right direction. I’m sure you’ve looked in the quarter, if you look at the balance sheet you’ll see that for the third quarter cash conversion cycle go down for the first time in a couple of quarters meaning less days. So we’re starting to see real positive. That number came down by two days. And I think next year you’re going to see some real positive developments there in 2024.
David Strauss: Okay. So just — sorry just maybe, I’m not getting in here. Just in terms of working capital as we see it on the cash flow statement in 2024, do you think that’s a positive contributor to cash or not?
Robb LeMasters: That’s right. I do see the working capital items should be a positive to operating cash flow.
David Strauss: Okay. All right. Thanks for the clarification.
Robb LeMasters: Sure.
Operator: Your final question is from Tate Sullivan from Maxim Group. Tate, your line is open.
Tate Sullivan: Hi thank you. Rex, it sounds like you’re quite positive on the fuel down blending and or what you call the government specialty materials opportunities. Is that a matter of more volume in that — various businesses there? And can you comment on, if higher uranium prices have any derivative positive or negative impact to you at all, please? Thank you.
Rex Geveden: Yeah. Sure Tate. Thanks for the question. Yeah. I mean, first off, we’re completely uninfluenced by uranium prices, because the uranium that we process on behalf of the US government comes from stockpile and is government furnished equipment. In fact, it’s government’s government-owned material all the way through. So you can think of our business as having a tolling arrangement on government material. But the reason I’m bullish on it, Tate is because, for one thing we’re uniquely suited to do it. And I mean that in a specific sense we’ve got a category one, in our seed license and we can handle stockpile material and no other commercial entity can do that. So we’re uniquely qualified to do it. And we’re bullish, because it’s a, it’s a good business.
It has a long tail on it. Our competitive position is appropriate there. But then, I think there might be more to come. The NNSA, National Nuclear Security Administration has published a request for information about enrichment for national security purposes. But there will come a point when we’ve got to replenish the stockpile based on demand from naval nuclear propulsion and other things. And that’s a special need that will require the kind of licenses and credentials and experiential qualifications that we possess. And so enrichment is a possible thing out there in the future. Certainly, there’s some low-level activity in our business right now around isotope production for National Security. And if you want to think more broadly around that strategic thesis think about whether or not we could expand into non-nuclear special materials that involve electrochemistry or chemicals or specialty metals.
And so I think there’s a whole world of special case materials out there that require unique processing, that require unique materials handling and accountability capabilities that we uniquely possess. And so, it’s a really interesting line of business that we hope to expand in the future.
Tate Sullivan: Okay. Thank you Rex.
Rex Geveden: You’re welcome.
Operator: I would now like to turn the call back over to Chase Jacobson, Vice President of Investor Relations.
Chase Jacobson: Thank you everybody for joining us today. We appreciate your time and your questions and your interest in BWXT. We look forward to seeing and speaking with many of you at upcoming investor events. And if you have any further questions, you can reach out to us at investors.bwxt.com. Thank you.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today’s call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.
