Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 11 | Nuclear Power, Small Modular Reactors, and Fusion

VACo County Pulse Podcast

Energy Landscape of Virginia Episode 11 | Nuclear Power, Small Modular Reactors, and Fusion

In 2023 nuclear power produced approximately one-third of all power from Virginia sources while representing only 12 percent of all generation capacity in the Commonwealth. Dominion Energy operates Virginia’s four nuclear units in plants located in Louisa and Surry counties, each with a capacity of more than 900 megawatts in generation. Each unit operates continuously at capacity, only coming off-line temporarily to refuel approximately every 18 months. In this episode, we sat down with Erich Fritz, manager of business development, and Marc Hoffman, manager of nuclear emergency preparedness and licensing with Dominion to learn more about their existing nuclear fleet, their plans for developing small modular reactors, as well as their partnership with Commonwealth Fusion Systems to assist in building Virginia’s first commercially operating nuclear fusion reactor.

Where to find out more about topics covered in this episode:

• Dominion Energy Nuclear Facilities
• Dominion seeking small nuclear reactor proposals • Virginia Mercury
• Appalachian Power - SMR Plan
• Commonwealth Fusion Systems to Build World’s First Commercial Fusion Power Plant in Virginia | Commonwealth Fusion Systems
• California ISO – Today’s Outlook for Supply and Renewables