The world has been rid of 20,000 Russian nuclear warheads, and Dominion Virginia Power played a part in the disposal.
After the Soviet Union fell in the early 1990s, Russia and the U.S. formed a contract in 1993 in which Russia offered up 20,000 nuclear warheads for conversion to nuclear fuel. Workers in Russia and the U.S. spent 20 years and $8 billion converting the weapons-grade uranium to fuel, which was then sold to U.S. utility customers, including Dominion.
In all, Dominion used the equivalent of 429 Russian warheads to create electricity for its customers in its two Virginia nuclear power stations. Of those warheads, 136 were used in the Surry Power Station and 99 were used in the North Anna Power Station. Using uranium is a cleaner form of energy than coal and oil, which Dominion also uses.
“This material made to harm people was made into useful uranium fuel and we destroyed that material by making electricity. Our customers helped us do that by using the electricity the way they normally do,” said Rick Zuercher, manager of Dominion’s Nuclear Fleet Communications.
The program to convert weapons of mass destruction into fuel was called Megatons to Megawatts and required the Russian company Techsnabexport (TENEX) and the U.S. Enrichment Corporation to work together.
“Our program’s success resulted from strong bilateral cooperation and dedication to the effective execution of the contract over the long term,” said USEC President and CEO John Welch in a news release. “Our companies have worked together to implement the contract on terms that benefit both countries while providing America’s nuclear reactors with competitively priced nuclear fuel. To that end, USEC’s long-term contracts with American utilities supported the contract and provided stability to the program.”
While the warhead conversion program has ended, USEC and TENEX are working together under a 2011 contract that runs through 2022. Under the contract, TENEX began supplying fuel-grade uranium to USEC this year; the supply amount will increase until 2015, when TENEX is expected to be supplying half as much uranium to USEC as it did under the Megatons to Megawatts program.
