Nuclear power plant in Virginia, United States of America. Approximate location 38.0601, -77.7897.
NuclearVirginiaUnited States of Americapressurized water reactor
North Anna nuclear power plant is a 5,615 MW nuclear power station in Virginia, United States of America. It is operated by Virginia Electric and Power Co [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 13 million homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 10,938 United States of America power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1978, it is around 48 years old — long-established. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, nuclear supplies about 17.4% of United States of America's electricity; the national grid averages 384 gCO₂/kWh (43.0% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_northanna_unite.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 2,001 MW for North Anna nuclear power plant, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000500116; fuel: GEM GNPT
At 5,615 MW, North Anna nuclear power plant is well above the median nuclear plant in United States of America (1,917 MW). Technically it is described as pressurized water reactor. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Virginia Electric and Power Co [100%].
This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 38.1°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 10% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 46/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #4 largest nuclear power plant of 230 in United States of America by capacity.
United States of America has 230 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 427,888 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 38.0601, -77.7897 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
North Anna nuclear power plant is a 5,615 MW nuclear power plant in Virginia, United States of America, commissioned in 1978.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 12,648,188 homes (estimated).
North Anna nuclear power plant is operated by Virginia Electric and Power Co [100%].
