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In a move that could affect its plans for a third nuclear reactor at North Anna Power Station, Dominion power is exploring options for another design. Dominion has been unable to reach an agreement with GE Hitachi on an engineering, procurement and construction agreement allowing Dominion to move ahead with Unit 3 at its plant on Lake Anna. Dominion nuclear operations spokesman Richard Zuercher said yesterday that time is the issue. "Our timeline to move forward to have a new unit operating at North Anna is between 2016 and 2018, and we have no agreement that gets us to that point," Zuercher said. He said that Dominion will seek out other vendors for an advanced reactor that can be licensed and built under that timeline.

The most recent shutdown of a nuclear reactor at Dominion Virginia Power's North Anna Power Station also involved the accidental discharge of tens of thousands of gallons of cooling water into Lake Anna. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday's shutdown of Unit 2, caused by an electrical malfunction, also prompted the discharge of what was originally thought to be up to 59,500 gallons of cooling water into the Louisa County lake. The NRC said Dominion Virginia Power told the agency that it later appeared that the amount of discharge was actually closer to 35,000 gallons. Dominion Virginia Power also told the NRC that the lake water was tested after the discharge and was found to be within government-approved limits.

The most recent shutdown of a nuclear reactor at Dominion Virginia Power's North Anna Power Station also involved the accidental discharge of tens of thousands of gallons of cooling water into Lake Anna. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday's shutdown of Unit 2, caused by an electrical malfunction, also prompted the discharge of what was originally thought to be up to 59,500 gallons of cooling water into the Louisa County lake. The NRC said Dominion Virginia Power told the agency that it later appeared that the amount of discharge was actually closer to 35,000 gallons. Dominion Virginia Power also told the NRC that the lake water was tested after the discharge and was found to be within government-approved limits.

Dominion Resources Inc (D.N) expects to decide in the fall whether to continue working with General Electric Co/Hitachi Ltd on a proposed nuclear plant in Virginia, a spokesman said. Dominion opened a competitive process this month to broaden its discussions with potential nuclear vendors, spokesman Richard Zuercher said on Monday. The move to look at competing engineering and construction partners came after Dominion disclosed in January that it was unable to reach agreement with General Electric Co (GE.N)/Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) on terms to build the company's advanced nuclear design, the 1,550 MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor.

"Federal regulators are investigating allegations by a retired Millstone Power Station worker that plant owner Dominion puts profits ahead of safety and that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not thoroughly managing safety issues. David Collins of Old Lyme, a pro-nuclear retiree who took a company buyout in March, says the way Dominion has handled staffing cuts in key areas at the nuclear complex, along with an electrical mishap that forced a manual shutdown at the plant and the monitoring of fire doors, contribute to a "cover-up culture" that could compromise public safety just the way it was compromised in the late 1990s at the Waterford plant and in 2002 at the Davis-Besse reactor in Ohio. Dominion officials deny the allegations about lax safety at the plant or that profits are motivating cutbacks in staffing."

Dominion Resources Inc (D.N) has been unable to reach an agreement with GE Hitachi to pursue development of a new nuclear plant in Virginia, a spokesman said on Friday. Jim Norvelle said Dominion has decided to open a competitive bidding process to select a new engineering, procurement and construction partner for a proposed single new reactor at the North Anna nuclear station in Virginia.

US-based electricity utility Dominion, which is the owner of the 568MW Kewaunee nuclear power station in Wisconsin, filed an application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the facility's operating license. The nuclear unit, located about 25 miles east of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is licensed to operate through December 2013. Dominion said that, with a renewed license, the station will be able to provide Wisconsin with electricity through December 21, 2033.

Owners of the Kewaunee nuclear plant have applied for a 20-year extension of its license to operate. The Kewaunee Power Station has one nuclear reactor. The plant's operator, Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc. -- a subsidiary of Dominion Resources of Virginia that bought the plant in 2005 -- submitted a license renewal application in August. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will conduct two public meetings on Wednesday, Oct. 22, to solicit public comments on possible environmental impacts of the proposal. The meetings will take place at the Carlton Town Hall, N1296 Town Hall Road in Kewaunee County. The first session will run from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., and the second from 7 to 10 p.m.

Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc., Kewaunee Power Station; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process Dominion Energy Kewaunee, Inc. (DEK) has submitted an application for renewal of Facility Operating License No. DPR-43 for an additional 20 years of operation at Kewaunee Power Station (KPS). KPS is located on the west-central shore of Lake Michigan in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, approximately 30 miles east-southeast of Green Bay and 8 miles south of the City of Kewaunee. The operating license for KPS expires on December 21, 2013. The application for renewal, dated August 14, 2008, was submitted pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 54. A notice of receipt and availability of the application, which included the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2008 (73 FR 51023).

Dominion Virginia Power is seeking a federal loan guarantee for the construction of a third nuclear reactor at the North Anna Power Station. The company announced yesterday that it had filed an application with the U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE loan guarantee program was created in 2005 to help finance the first wave of new commercial reactors in the United States.

Virginia Electric And Power Company, D/B/A Dominion Virginia Power, and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative North Anna Nuclear Station Unit 3 Combined License Application; Correction and Supplement to Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

An environmental group is hailing a judge's ruling on a disputed water permit for North Anna Power Station. Meanwhile, Dominion power, which owns the nuclear plant on Lake Anna in Louisa County, says it will appeal the decision Friday by Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer. Though both sides are awaiting a written ruling, Spencer sided with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League's contention that the plant's waste heat treatment facility should be subject to the federal Clean Water Act. Since the plant began operating in the late 1970s, Dominion has contended that the lagoon where heated water from the plant's two reactors is cooled is a waste facility and not a water impoundment. The lagoon, on which there are houses and boat docks, is also known as the lake's hot side. Water from the hot side eventually drains back into the main lake through a dike.

The Isle of Wight Citizens Association met with representatives of Dominion Power and discussed the controversial possibility of farmers in the county using treated sewage sludge for fertilizer at their meeting Monday night. Sonny Stanley, the director of nuclear safety and licensing at the Surry Power Plant, told the audience assembled at the Carrollton Public Library that unless additional power plants were constructed, the state would be facing a deficit of 4,000 megawatts by the year 2017.

State officials and environmental groups have reached an agreement with the Millstone nuclear power complex to expedite plans aimed at reducing the facility's effect on Long Island Sound. Virginia-based Dominion, Millstone's owner, agreed Monday to immediately begin studying technologies and measures that would better protect fish and other sea creatures from Millstone's water-based system for cooling its reactors.

Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc.; Notice of Issuance of Amendment to Facility Operating License and Final Determination of No Significant Hazards Consideration

Dominion Power wants to generate more electricity from nuclear power in Virginia. But the proposed expansion of a nuclear plant 60 miles northwest of Richmond has generated safety and environmental concerns among nearby residents. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public hearing Feb. 3 on the proposed addition of a third reactor at the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Louisa County. Opponents were present to voice their objections. "We are obviously opposed to a third reactor on Lake Anna," said Louis Zeller, science director for Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. "We have our problems with the first two reactors. Adding a third reactor is a situation which puts extreme stress on the resources that is the lake." Zeller said officials should consider another factor: The reactor's site is on a seismically active fault line.

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed an environmental impact study for Dominion's proposed third nuclear reactor at its North Anna Power Station in central Virginia and concludes there are no environmental impacts that would preclude its construction. Dominion applied for a license to construct and operate the reactor in November 2007. The NRC has been conducting its review since April 2008. It is just one step in the approval process, which still requires a safety review and a hearing by the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which is not expected until at least 2011."

Dominion Virginia Power shut down one of its two nuclear reactors at its North Anna power station Friday because of what the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission later deemed "an unusual event." Unit 1 remained shut down this morning. Unit 2 at North Anna, about 45 miles northwest of Richmond along Lake Anna in Louisa County, continued to operate at full power today. The Richmond-based utility notified the NRC one hour after the incident occurred Friday and later told the federal agency it had also notified the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. There was no indication whether local authorities in Louisa or any other surrounding counties had been notified by the utility.

Dominion Virginia Power shut down one of its two nuclear reactors at its North Anna power station Friday because of what the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission later deemed "an unusual event." Unit 1 remained shut down this morning. Unit 2 at North Anna, about 45 miles northwest of Richmond along Lake Anna in Louisa County, continued to operate at full power today. The Richmond-based utility notified the NRC one hour after the incident occurred Friday and later told the federal agency it had also notified the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. There was no indication whether local authorities in Louisa or any other surrounding counties had been notified by the utility.

"An environmental group lost the latest round in a court fight over a disputed water permit for North Anna Power Station. The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled this week that the State Water Control Board's 2007 renewal of a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit was appropriate. In February, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer sided with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League's contention that the plant's waste heat treatment facility should be subject to the federal Clean Water Act. Since the plant began operating in the late 1970s, Dominion has contended that the lagoon, where heated water from the plant's two reactors is cooled, is a waste facility and not a water impoundment. The lagoon, ringed by houses and boat docks, is also known as the lake's hot side. Water from the hot side eventually drains back into the main lake through a dike."

"Connecticut has two sites for nuclear power reactors that can be used for the salvation of Connecticut's current inventory of high-wage unemployed manufacturing and construction workers, and for long-term, high-paying plant operations jobs after two 10 year periods of construction. Connecticut can have the low-cost power to bring manufacturing back to the state! Now that is job opportunity, direct and resultant. Can Dominion tell us what subsidy or guarantees it would t need to construct such plants? Will it? Can and will the appropriate White House czar certify the availability of such stimulus funds for a sure-thing job-creation initiative that fills Connecticut's future electricity demand free of carbon emissions? Will Connecticut act now? Will our state's manufacturing workers and worker unions demand it?"

Federal inspectors begin assessing how power plant dealt with the problem Waterford - A special team of federal inspectors arrived Monday at Millstone Power Station to verify how the owner is addressing a recent situation in which gas was trapped in piping for a reactor safety system. The trapped gas was discovered when the Unit 3 reactor owned by Dominion was shut down for refueling in October, and was corrected by inserting a valve in the pipe, according to Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for Region 1 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.