THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 11, 1996 TAG: 9606110429
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 50 lines
Virginia Power said Monday that it will cut an additional 106 jobs in its nuclear-power operations, including 41 at its Surry Power Station, as part of an aggressive cost-cutting program.
The latest cuts, most of which take effect Aug. 1, will bring to about 1,400 the number of positions eliminated by the Richmond-based utility since early last year.
Monday's announcement marked the third round of cuts in the nuclear division. So far, about 340 of the 2,300 positions in that operation have been eliminated. The two remaining unscathed work groups in nuclear - engineering and fuel management - face yet-to-be-specified reductions sometime this fall. About 400 people work in those groups combined.
The latest cuts in nuclear were that division's smallest so far in percentage terms. The 106 people affected represent about 9 percent of the employees involved in plant operations, materials management and radiological protection - the groups involved in Monday's announcement. Eighty-five of the employees are salaried. The remainder are hourly workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
James Norvelle, a Virginia Power spokesman, said the cuts were relatively small because the employees already are operating the company's two nuclear plants relatively cost-effectively. The utility's North Anna plant northwest of Richmond is the lowest-cost nuclear generating station in the United States, and Surry is the ninth-lowest, according to the Utility Data Institute, which tracks the nation's 70 commercial nuclear plants.
Still, Norvelle said, there is room for improving the plants' operations, ``to maintain our leadership position.''
He said as part of the latest cuts, which will be done in conjunction with a re-engineering of plant operations, Virginia Power's nuclear plants will rely more on their own employees rather than outside contractors to refuel and maintain reactors.
He said the plants will also rely more heavily on automated detection systems when monitoring employees' exposure to radiation. And he said Virginia Power will seek to expand a partnership with three other nuclear utilities - Duke Power, Carolina Power & Light, and South Carolina Electric & Gas - to share equipment and services.
He said Virginia Power also expects to cut its costs by shifting a greater percentage of its purchases of parts and services to a smaller number of vendors with which it negotiates special prices. And he said the utility has identified large potential cost savings by buying more parts and equipment ``off the shelf'' rather than having them made to order.
KEYWORDS: LAYOFFS VIRGINIA POWER by CNB