Surry Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
Surry Power Station is a nuclear power plant
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 plant has two triple-loop Westinghouse
pressurized water reactor
s 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 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.
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Surry was 127,041, an increase of 21.9 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 2,292,642, an increase of 13.9 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Virginia Beach (47 miles to city center), Norfolk (30 miles to city center), Richmond (50 miles to city center).
• 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 commercial nuclear industry.
• On April 16, 2011, a tornado
touched down in the plant's electrical switching station, disabling primary power to the plant's cooling pumps and causing the backup diesel generators to activate without incident.
• On August 23, 2011, an earthquake in central Virginia
automatically shut down Dominion's North Anna reactors 11 miles from the epicenter. The similar Surry reactors continued in operation and Dominion declared a "Notice of Unusual Event" for the Surry plant which was lifted later the same day.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
located in Surry County
Surry County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 7,058 people, 2,619 households, and 1,917 families residing in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile . There were 3,294 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
in southeastern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. The power station lies on an 840-acre (3.4 km²) site adjacent to the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
across from Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
, slightly upriver from Smithfield
Smithfield, Virginia
Smithfield is a town in Isle of Wight County, in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region of Virginia in the United States. The population was 8,089 at the 2010 census....
and Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. Surry is operated by Dominion Generation and owned by Dominion Resources, Inc
Dominion Resources
Dominion Resources Inc. , commonly referred to as Dominion, is a power and energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia and North Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and eastern North Carolina...
.
The plant has two triple-loop Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s 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
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
(NRC) extended the operating licenses for both reactors from forty to sixty years.
The Surry plant is similar in appearance and design to its "sister plant" North Anna Power Station
North Anna Nuclear Generating Station
The North Anna Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on a site in Louisa County, Virginia. The site is operated by Dominion Generation company and is jointly owned by the Dominion Virginia Power corporation and by the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative .The plant has two Westinghouse...
, located northwest of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 33,153. The county seat is Louisa.- History :...
.
Surry was one of the plants analyzed in the NUREG-1150
NUREG-1150
NUREG-1150 is an improvement on WASH-1400 and CRAC-II using the results of plant-specific Probabilistic Risk Assessments...
safety analysis study.
Surrounding population
The Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Surry was 127,041, an increase of 21.9 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 2,292,642, an increase of 13.9 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Virginia Beach (47 miles to city center), Norfolk (30 miles to city center), Richmond (50 miles to city center).
Events
• On July 27, 1972, two workers were fatally scalded after a routine valve adjustment led to a steam release in a gap in a vent line.• 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 commercial nuclear industry.
• On April 16, 2011, a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
touched down in the plant's electrical switching station, disabling primary power to the plant's cooling pumps and causing the backup diesel generators to activate without incident.
• On August 23, 2011, an earthquake in central Virginia
2011 Virginia earthquake
The 2011 Virginia earthquake occurred on August 23, 2011, at 1:51 pm EDT in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Virginia. The epicenter, in Louisa County, was northwest of Richmond and south-southwest of the town of Mineral...
automatically shut down Dominion's North Anna reactors 11 miles from the epicenter. The similar Surry reactors continued in operation and Dominion declared a "Notice of Unusual Event" for the Surry plant which was lifted later the same day.