CASE C13 · US ·
Dominion Energy: drone inspection of condensers at Surry nuclear power station during outages
Dominion Energy's in-house team inspects the condensers at Surry nuclear station by drone. Avoiding full scaffolding reportedly cut inspection from over a week to two 12-hour shifts and saved over $200,000 per outage. The savings figure is inconsistent within the article, and scaffolding is still needed where repairs are made.
| Owner | Dominion Energy |
| Provider | — |
| Location | Surry County, Virginia, United States |
| Aircraft | Flyability Elios 3 (with UT payload) |
| Sensors | 4K camera, ultrasonic thickness (UT), LiDAR |
Before
Scaffolding inside and around the condenser plus confined-space entry: 12–14 twelve-hour shifts to erect and 4–6 to dismantle, at least six scaffolders per shift, over $1,000/hour.
With drones
Dominion's in-house unmanned systems group flies the drone for video, UT and LiDAR; scaffolding is erected only where repairs are needed.
Outcomes
| Metric | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| inspection duration | from over a week to two 12-hour shifts (headline: 8 days to 8 hours) | Reported |
| cost per outage | over US$200,000 saved (headline says US$150,000) | Reported |
| labour | 12–14 scaffolders released for other work | Reported |
Caveats & limits
- Manufacturer case study; savings figures are inconsistent between headline and body.
- Inspection year not stated.
- Scaffolding is still needed for repair locations; the drone replaces only the survey step.
- The '$3 million per day' outage figure on the page is a general industry number, not Surry-specific.
Sources
- Cutting Condenser Inspections From 8 Days To 8 HoursFlyability Full text read
Sources checked: 2026-10-22