North Anna nuclear reactor reaches full power again

After being taken down for refueling, a nuclear reactor at Dominion Virginia Power’s North Anna power plant in Louisa County has again reached 100 percent of generating capacity.

Figures provided by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission this morning showed that North Anna’s Unit 1 is back at full power following a restart procedure that began late last week.

Unit 1 was shut down March 7 for its regular 18-month refueling, a process that included replacing one-third of its fuel, conducting a 10-year inspection of the reactor vessel, inspecting and cleaning steam generators inside the containment building and replacing one of the unit’s two low-pressure turbines.

North Anna’s Unit 2 operated at 100 percent of capacity throughout the Unit 1 shutdown.