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Surry Nuclear Power Plant
Surry Nuclear Power Plant
5:37 AM
Posted by Energetic
Surry Nuclear Power Plant is located in Surry County in southeastern Virginia. The power station lies on an 840-acre (3.4 km²) site adjacent to the James River across from Jamestown, slightly upriver from Smithfield and Newport News. Surry is operated by Dominion Generation and owned by Dominion Resources, Inc.
The Surry Nuclear Power Plant has two triple-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactors which went on-line in 1972 and 1973 respectively. Each reactor produces approximately 800 megawatts of power, for a combined plant output of 1.6 gigawatts. Surry Power Station draws its condenser cycle water directly from the James River, removing the need for the imposing cooling towers often associated with nuclear plants. Repeated testing shows that Surry Power Station has minimal environmental impact and releases virtually no radiation or harmful emissions.
The station site was originally designed for four units; however, only two reactors were built. With increasing energy demands in the United States, it is possible that more reactors will be built at Surry in the next few decades. In 2003, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) extended the operating licenses for both reactors from forty to sixty years.
The Surry Nuclear Power Plant is similar in appearance and design to its "sister plant" North Anna Power Station, located northwest of Richmond in Louisa County, Virginia.
Surry was one of the plants analyzed in the NUREG-1150 safety analysis study.
On December 9, 1986, a steam explosion in the non-nuclear part of Unit 2 killed 4 workers. This was the worst accident in terms of human cost of any in the US nuclear industry.
Surry Nuclear Power Plant | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Locale | Surry County, near Rushmere, Virginia |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | Unit 1: December 22, 1972 Unit 2: May 1, 1973 |
Licence expiration | Unit 1: May 25, 2032 Unit 2: January 19, 2033 |
Owner(s) | Dominion Resources |
Operator(s) | Dominion Generation |
Architect(s) | Stone & Webster |
Reactor information | |
Reactors operational | 2 x 799 MW |
Reactor type(s) | pressurized water reactor |
Reactor supplier(s) | Westinghouse |
Power generation information | |
Annual generation | 13,282 GW·h |
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This entry was posted on October 4, 2009 at 12:14 pm, and is filed under
Nuclear Power Plant in United States
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