Virginia Power drops out of Plutonium Fuel Consortium

April 7, 2000 - Virginia Power has announced that it's dropping its plans to burn Plutonium fuel at its North Anna Nuclear Power Plant in Louisa County, Virginia.

Jim Norvelle, a Virginia Power spokesman, said the company has notified the U.S. Department of Energy and the Duke Cogema Stone & Webster consortium that it is withdrawing from the project.

Earlier this year, Dominion Resources, the parent company of Virginia Power, merged with Consolidated Natural Gas Co. of Pittsburgh.

Norvelle, quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch April 8, 2000 edition, said "the project doesn't fit with the company's plans anymore."

The amount of plutonium available for the Plutonium Fuel project has been reduced from 33 tons to 25 tons.

Duke Energy has said it will stay in the Plutonium fuel program. Duke plans to use the fuel at its McGuire and Catawba Nuclear plants.

A shareholder vote on Duke's use of the new fuel, Proposal 4, will be tallied at Duke Energy's annual meeting on April 20, 2000. With very short notice, 7 percent of shareholders opposed the plan last year.

Sources:
Richmond Times-Dispatch April 8, 2000 story
The Charlotte Observer April 8, 2000 story

More info:
U.S. DOE selects Duke Energy & Va. Power to "burn" MOx fuel
SOUTHERN ANTI-PLUTONIUM CAMPAIGN