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Tag: Lynchburg

Appalachian Power plans small nuclear reactor in Campbell

Appalachian Power, an electric utility subsidiary of American Electric Power which serves more than one million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, announced plans Nov. 14 to bring a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project to Campbell County.

The company, which has its headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia, has identified a potential site for the project on property it already owns in Joshua Falls outside Lynchburg. A 765-kilovolt substation is already located at Joshua Falls and nearby roads are adequate to support moving equipment to the site, according to Appalachian Power.

“Advanced nuclear power is at the heart of Virginia’s All-American, All-of-the Above Energy Plan, a plan that prioritizes abundant, reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean power to fuel our thriving and growing economy,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin stated in an Appalachian Power news release. “I am grateful that Appalachian Power is taking this next step to support Virginia’s nuclear future.”

SMRs are designed to generate up to 300 megawatts per unit, about one-third the capacity of conventional nuclear reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Association. As of now, only two SMRs are in operation — one in Russia and the other in China.

In 2022, Youngkin announced Virginia would build a SMR within a decade. The next year, the governor and the General Assembly created the Virginia Power Innovation Fund, which provides $4 million for research and development of innovative energy technologies.

“Appalachian Power is committed to generating clean, always-on power to meet Virginia’s future demand,” Appalachian Power President and CEO Aaron Walker said in a release. “We are grateful to the Virginia General Assembly and Gov. Youngkin for embracing SMR technology. This announcement would not have been possible without their forward-thinking support.”

In October, Amazon.com and Dominion Energy Virginia entered into an agreement to explore development of small modular nuclear reactors at North Anna Power Station in Louisa County.

Appalachian Power plans to file an application with the Virginia State Corporation Commission in spring 2025. The company intends to apply for the U.S. Department of Energy’s $900 million grant program that is designed to accelerate the deployment of SMRs.

The utility serves about 550,000 customers in an 11,000 square-mile territory in central and southwestern Virginia. It will hold a community open house to discuss the project on Dec. 5 at the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance. 

Appalachian Power plans small nuclear reactor in Campbell

Appalachian Power, an electric utility subsidiary of American Electric Power which serves more than one million customers in Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, announced plans Thursday to bring a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) project to Campbell County.

The company, which has its headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia, has identified a potential site for the project on property it already owns in Joshua Falls near the James River and outside Lynchburg. A 765-kilovolt substation is already located at Joshua Falls and nearby roads are adequate to support moving equipment to the site, according to Appalachian Power.

“Advanced nuclear power is at the heart of Virginia’s All-American, All-of-the Above Energy Plan, a plan that prioritizes abundant, reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean power to fuel our thriving and growing economy,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin stated in an Appalachian Power news release. “I am grateful that Appalachian Power is taking this next step to support Virginia’s nuclear future.”

SMRs are designed to generate up to 300 megawatts per unit, about one-third the capacity of conventional nuclear reactors, according to the International Atomic Energy Association. As of now, only two SMRs are in operation — one in Russia and the other in China.

In 2022, Youngkin announced Virginia would build a SMR within a decade. The next year, the governor and the General Assembly created the Virginia Power Innovation Fund, which provides $4 million for research and development of innovative energy technologies.

“Appalachian Power is committed to generating clean, always-on power to meet Virginia’s future demand,” Appalachian Power President and CEO Aaron Walker stated in a release. “We are grateful to the Virginia General Assembly and Gov. Youngkin for embracing SMR technology. This announcement would not have been possible without their forward-thinking support.”

The largest SMRs can produce enough energy for 250,000 to 500,000 homes, according to George Porter, a spokesperson for Appalachian Power. The SMR in Campbell County would generate power for Appalachian Power customers in Virginia, he stated.

In October, Amazon.com and Dominion Energy Virginia entered into an agreement to explore development of small modular nuclear reactors at North Anna Power Station in Louisa County.

Appalachian Power plans to file an application with the Virginia State Corporation Commission in spring 2025. The company intends to apply for the U.S. Department of Energy’s $900 million grant program that is designed to accelerate the deployment of SMRs.

The utility serves about 550,000 customers in an 11,000 square-mile territory in central and southwestern Virginia. It will hold a community open house to discuss the project on Dec. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.

 

Physical therapists get licenses revoked, suspended over patient sexting

The Virginia Board of Physical Therapy has revoked the license of a Lynchburg physical therapist and suspended the license of a Yorktown physical therapist assistant over unrelated sexting incidents with patients. 

The board entered an order to revoke Stephen Maynard Scott’s physical therapy license on Oct. 11 for “conduct with a former patient that was of a sexual nature.” 

According to the board, Scott treated a 74-year-old woman recovering from a stroke at a rehabilitation facility in Stuart from January to March 2023. The patient had depression, bipolar disorder and symptoms of dementia, according to board documents. Shortly after the patient returned to her home in January 2024, Scott began sending her text messages, some of which were sexually explicit, as well as photos of his genitalia, according to the board’s report. Some of the messages were sent while he was at work, according to the board.

Scott, who is listed as living in Lynchburg and obtained his physical therapy license in 1999, was suspended from the facility in February. His employer, the board documents state, reviewed Scott’s work laptop and found that he had been on dating sites for senior women and had been “messaging elderly women while he was at work.” 

The Virginia Board of Physical Therapy had already entered an order in May 2023 placing Scott on indefinite probation stemming from separate allegations that he sent inappropriate texts to an 81-year-old patient.

After three years, Scott can request his license be reinstated at a formal administrative proceeding of the board.

In a separate and unrelated case, the board entered an order on Oct. 11, indefinitely suspending the physical therapy assistant license of  John Cody Bradshaw of Yorktown “for a period of not less than six months.” 

In January and February, according to the board, Bradshaw provided in-home treatment to a patient. Prior to a scheduled visit on Feb. 22, the board alleged, Bradshaw sent a text to the patient providing his personal cell number. The pair continued to text and the messages became sexually explicit and included photos of a sexual nature.

Bradshaw can apply for his license to be reinstated after undergoing a psychological assessment and taking a course on professional boundaries.

Centra names permanent CEO

Lynchburg-based health system Centra has selected interim leader Richard Tugman as its president and CEO, overseeing a health system that serves more than 500,000 patients in Central and Southern Virginia, operating four hospitals, five medical centers and numerous primary care and specialty practices.

Tugman had served as interim CEO since March, replacing Amy Carrier, who’d been CEO since 2021.

Asked in March about Carrier’s departure, Dr. Tom Nygaard, chairman of the health system’s board, told WSET, “We felt that it was time for the organization to move on. Take a bit of a different direction,”

Tugman also served as Centra’s interim CEO for several months before Carrier’s hiring, following the January 2021 departure of former Centra CEO Dr. Andrew Mueller, who left to become CEO of MaineHealth in Portland, Maine.

From 2016 to 2021, Tugman had been CEO of Piedmont Community Health Plan, a health insurance subsidiary of Centra Health. In April, Piedmont, which stopped offering individual health insurance in 2023, announced it would stop selling group commercial health insurance at the end of 2024. Piedmont will “wind down its business” in 2025 and “some period beyond,” according to a news release.

“For more than two years, Piedmont has explored ways to increase its critical mass to become more competitive with national insurers through potential partnerships and/or outside investments,” interim Piedmon CEO Ryan Ziemann said in an statement released in April. “While there was much outside interest in Piedmont, the company was unable to reach an agreement that would enable it to compete on a more level footing with its much larger competitors.”

Earlier in his career, Tugman was vice president and general counsel for Lynchburg’s Fleet Laboratories.

“Richard’s performance since his appointment in March 2024 as interim president [and] CEO, in addition to his leadership in the same role in 2021, validated the board’s full confidence, as well as that of our providers, caregivers and members of the communities in which Centra serves,” Nygaard said in a statement Thursday. “He has the ability to strategically guide the organization in its mission to provide access to the best health care now and into the future as we adapt to a challenging and changing health care environment.”

In late December 2023, Centra filed a $7 million lawsuit against Lynchburg Hematology-Oncology Clinic, an independent physicians group, stating that the clinic overbilled Centra for services from 2016 to 2021. In September, the case was dismissed.

The two parties “mutually and amicably resolved the lawsuit and related disputes” according to Emelyn Gwynn, a spokesperson for Centra.

LHOC’s professional services agreement with Centra expired at the end of March and LHOC providers then stopped treating patients at the Centra Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center in Lynchburg, according to an announcement on the LHOC website. In April, Centra launched the Centra Hematology Oncology Clinics at the Pearson Cancer and at Centra Southside Community Hospital in Farmville.

Centra Health’s oncology department currently has two doctors in Farmville and seven in Lynchburg, with five more doctors starting “in the next few months,” according to Gwynn.

Four physicians who previously worked at LHOC now work for Centra, according to Gwynn. “Additionally, we have 12 advanced practice providers,” she said in a statement. “We are prioritizing the recruitment and interviews of more permanent providers to join CHOC. This will remain a top priority as we seek to build a long-term, sustainable team.”

 

$10M Biochar plant opens in Waverly

Restoration Bioproducts’ executives and employees gathered with state and local officials Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the company’s Sussex County biochar production facility.

Through a thermal decomposition process known as pyrolysis, the facility heats waste wood to high temperatures in an environment without oxygen to transform the material into syngas — a combustible gas that can be used for fuel —  and biochar, a charcoal-like substance commonly used to improve soil health, as an animal food additive, and as an odor absorber.

It’s no accident that Restoration Bioproducts’ executives chose to build the facility next door to Wood Fuel Developers, a wood pellet manufacturer, in the town of Waverly. Initially, the Restoration Bioproducts’ plant will rely exclusively on wood waste from its neighbor as a front-end fuel for the system. Later, the company will need to source waste wood from other Virginia operations, according to senior partner Andy Raines.

Restoration Bioproducts, which has its headquarters in Lynchburg, has hired a manager and seven employees to work at the Waverly plant, which cost nearly $10 million to build. 

Initially, Restoration Bioproducts leaders estimated they’d be able to build the plant for $5.8 million, but supply chain issues and inflation raised costs. “We were able to scramble around and raise the extra capital through our funding partners, but it did slow us down a bit,” Raines said. 

Early estimates calculated that 18 months would be needed to build the plant. It ended up taking over two years.

To build next to Wood Fuel Developers, Restoration Bioproducts also had to figure out how to design the plant to fit on a site that’s a little over an acre. 

“Normally, we would sort of spread ourselves out on, say, a 7-, 8- [or] maybe even a 10-acre site,” Raines said. Instead, the company decided to build up instead of out. Restoration Bioproducts’ Sussex County plant is 2,500 square feet and stands 60 feet tall, according to Raines.

Currently, the biochar plant is in a commissioning period, “when you turn everything on and see how it runs,” he explained. 

Sometime in 2025, Raines added, the goal is for the facility to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  

​​“There’s an advantage from an efficiency standpoint and from a carbon impact standpoint to leave it at temperature and leave it running,” Raines said. 

As production ramps up, more employees will be hired. “That’ll move us up to about 15 jobs,” Raines said. 

Another goal is for the plant to eventually be fueled by its own syngas. “As we heat the wood, the gasses are pushed out of that wood, and we recirculate that to run the facility,” Raines explained.

Restoration Bioproducts plans to sell biochar produced at the plant for agricultural use. Biochar can improve soil’s fertility, yield and water retention. “We’re big believers in helping to heal the soil,” Raines said. 

Additionally, the biochar plant provided an opportunity to companies looking to offset their emissions. Converting wood to biochar removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Restoration Bioproducts worked with Carbon Streaming in Canada to sell carbon removal credits that will be generated by the work at the Waverly plant. In September 2023, the carbon credit streaming and royalty company announced it had made a deal with Microsoft to buy credits generated at the Restoration Bioproducts’ plant. 

“They stepped in early and said, ‘Great, great project. We’d love to have those credits,’ and they’ve spoken for those,” Raines said of Microsoft. 

The Waverly facility is expected to deliver up to 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide removal credits per year, according to Carbon Streaming. 

 

BWX Technologies names Nuclear Operations Group head

BWX Technologies has tapped Gary D. Camper to be president of BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, according to a Tuesday announcement.

Based in Lynchburg, Camper will lead more than 5,000 employees at five sites across four states, all of whom are manufacturing nuclear reactor components and fuel for U.S. Navy submarines and aircraft carriers.

Camper has worked for four decades at BWXT, according to a company spokesperson. Previously, he served as vice president of contracts and procurement and as chief operating officer of the Nuclear Operations Group.

“Gary’s unparalleled knowledge of our business and customers positions him well to lead us into the future,” Kevin McCoy, president of BWXT Government Operations, stated in a news release.

Camper earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Old Dominion University. He sits on the industrial advisory board of the ODU engineering department and is co-chair of the executive committee for the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program in Danville.

Ranking No. 999 on the 2024 Fortune 1000 list, BWXT has roughly 7,800 employees and 14 major operating sites across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Top Five September 2024

The five most popular daily news stories on VirginiaBusiness.com from July 15 to Aug. 15 included news of Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. resolving their legal disputes.

1   |   Liberty, Falwell Jr. reach global settlement

Liberty University and its former president and chancellor, Jerry Falwell Jr., reached a global resolution agreement settling all three lawsuits between Falwell and the Lynchburg private Christian university. (July 26)

2   |   Batten donates $100 million to expand W&M marine, coastal research

Philanthropist Jane Batten pledged $100 million to William & Mary to boost coastal and marine science research towards finding global solutions for flooding and sea-level rise. (July 24)

3   |   Virginia Beach economic development director resigns

Charles E. “Chuck” Rigney resigned from his post as Virginia Beach’s economic development director after six months on the job. (July 26)

4   |   Henrico EDA buys golf course for $3 million, plans $11 million renovation

Henrico County’s economic development authority purchased The Crossings Golf Club and, with partners Pros Inc. and the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority, plans to pitch the course as the new home for a PGA Tour Champions golf event held at the Country Club of Virginia. (Aug. 8)

Jerry Falwell, Jr.

5   |   QTS finishes $137 million purchase of rezoned Henrico tech park land

QTS Data Centers has secured ownership of all 622 acres of the recently rezoned site for the White Oak Technology Park II project in Henrico County’s Sandston area. (July 19)

Liberty, Falwell Jr. reach global settlement

Liberty University and Jerry Falwell Jr. have reached a global resolution agreement that settles all three lawsuits between the Lynchburg private Christian university and Falwell, Liberty’s former president and chancellor who was forced to resign in 2020 in disgrace.

In a joint statement released Friday afternoon, Liberty and Falwell said that Liberty’s board of trustees agreed to pay Falwell “authorized retirement and severance under the various disputed agreements and in keeping with the law,” although it did not disclose an amount.

Falwell, in a federal lawsuit filed in March 2023, sued the university and the board’s executive committee for $8.58 million in retirement payments. He filed a second federal lawsuit in July 2023 demanding $5 million for what Falwell said was the university’s misuse of the image of his father, Baptist televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr., who founded Liberty in 1971. The settlement announced Friday also sets “the conditions under which the university will make use of Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr.’s name, image and likeness,” according to the joint statement.

Liberty, in Lynchburg Circuit Court, sued Falwell for $10 million in April 2021, claiming he had breached his contract and fiduciary duty, stemming from 2019 contract negotiations that yielded Falwell a salary increase and larger severance package. Liberty’s complaint claimed that Falwell did not disclose to the university’s board during those negotiations that a young Miami man was threatening to make public his yearslong sexual affair with Becki Falwell, Jerry Falwell Jr.’s wife.

Although Giancarlo Granda, the man the Falwells met at a Miami hotel in 2012 when Granda was 20, has denied trying to extort or blackmail the couple, his version of events — backed up by text messages and photos — came out in August 2020 in a Reuters interview, after which Falwell resigned. Granda claimed in the interview that Falwell knew about Granda’s affair with Becki Falwell from the start and watched the two have sex.

While Falwell has vehemently denied watching his wife and Granda, he has acknowledged his wife’s affair put the couple at risk of exposure, and he admitted trying to appease Granda with trips to New York and Virginia. Falwell also was involved in an investment in a Miami hostel that Granda managed, although Trey Falwell, Jerry and Becki’s son, was listed as the investor.

Liberty’s complaint included a photo of Granda meeting Donald Trump during the future president’s 2012 visit to Liberty University, as well as photos of Granda with the Falwells on a tour of the U.S. Capitol, in the Florida Keys and at their farm in Virginia. These, the lawsuit claimed, “were among the acts of appeasement that the Falwells used over the years to maintain Granda’s cooperative silence.”

Falwell, Liberty’s lawsuit claimed, “began to fashion a well-resourced exit strategy” in the 2019 contract negotiations, as his relationship with Granda began to deteriorate. For his part, Falwell said that the university’s board “made yet another attempt to defame me and discredit my record.”

At the time of his resignation, Falwell had served 13 years as Liberty’s president and chancellor, having become the school’s head after his father died in 2007; the younger Falwell had received praise for saving the school years earlier by bringing it out of debt. By the time he resigned, Liberty had one of the nation’s largest online college enrollments and a multibillion-dollar endowment. The school also was central to national Republican politicians seeking Christian evangelists’ endorsements, and Falwell made headlines when he endorsed Trump for president in 2016, a surprise given the candidate’s multiple divorces and other scandals.

Liberty’s lawsuit against Falwell claimed that the “Falwells knew they shared a unity of interests with Granda. They had an important goal in common: silence about the Falwells’ salacious acts. The Falwell[s] needed silence from Granda in order to safeguard their personal reputation, Jerry Jr.’s professional standing, and his employment with America’s leading evangelical university.”

Falwell, meanwhile, alleged that the university and various board members — including Jerry Prevo, who chaired the Liberty board and stepped in as interim president and chancellor following Falwell’s resignation — had defamed him in public statements. He also claimed in a filing in a federal lawsuit that his brother, Liberty Chancellor Jonathan Falwell, had gone back on recusing himself from the second federal lawsuit, in which Jerry Falwell Jr. claimed that the university was improperly using the likeness, signature and name of their late father.

The global settlement, though, appears to bring the years of accusations and ugliness to a close, according to the two parties’ statement Friday:

“Both the university’s Board of Trustees and Jerry Falwell Jr. sincerely regret the lengthy and painful litigation process, and each take responsibility for their part in the disputes. Falwell acknowledges and apologizes for the errors in judgement and mistakes made during his time of leadership. The Board of Trustees acknowledge and apologize for the errors and mistakes made on their part as well. The trustees and Falwell are committed to move forward in a spirit of forgiveness and with the hope of reconciliation in a Christ-honoring manner.”

In an email to the university community Friday, Liberty President Dondi E. Costin wrote that “about three years ago a prohibition was put in place that prevented employees from communicating with our former president and his wife about Liberty business or operations. That restriction is now lifted for employees of Liberty University and its affiliates. You are free to communicate with Jerry and Becki, including about Liberty University, just as you would with other alumni and members of the public.”

The couple are also “now free to be on Liberty property, attend our events and join us in the stands as they support their alma mater,” Costin wrote. “The time has come for our former president and his wife to be welcomed back to our campus.”

Costin added that the principals have “taken responsibility for their respective parts in the disputes and have apologized to each other.”

Both the joint statement and Costin’s letter say that the parties will not comment further on the matter.

Framatome Inc. taps new CEO and president

Starting Aug. 8, Anthony “Tony” Robinson will take over as the next CEO and president of Framatome Inc., the North American subsidiary of the French nuclear equipment, services and fuel producer.

A former executive for Framatome and BWX Technologies, Robinson replaces Katherine Williams, who retired after 20 years working for the Lynchburg-based nuclear reactor and fuel manufacturer. She became CEO and president in July 2023, succeeding Gary Mignogna, the company’s leader for 45 years.

Robinson, who has about 35 years of experience in North America’s nuclear energy field, was previously employed at Framatome and its predecessor, Areva, for about 25 years, including overseeing installed base products and engineering, customer accounts and building of new nuclear facilities across North America.

Most recently, Robinson was senior vice president and chief nuclear officer of Structural Integrity Associates, a North Carolina company providing engineering services for the energy industry. He also was vice president of the U.S. nuclear energy group at BWXT in Lynchburg. A registered engineer in Ohio, Robinson has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Akron and is a board member for the Central Virginia YMCA in Lynchburg.

“We are happy to welcome a proven leader and seasoned engineer as CEO of Framatome Inc.,” Bernard Fontana, CEO of the French parent company, said in a statement. “The promising growth of the North American nuclear industry, fueled by public and private support for clean energy, positions Tony to lead Framatome North America with excellence, ensuring seamless operations and continued support for our customers.”

In April, Framatome broke ground on a $49.4 million expansion at its Mill Ridge Road facility in Lynchburg, where Operational Center of Excellence employees service and maintain nuclear reactors in North America, and develop ideas for small nuclear reactors. The expansion is expected to add 515 jobs in Lynchburg, where it employs approximately 1,350 people.

Framatome has had a presence in Lynchburg since 1989, and it moved its North American headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Lynchburg in 2018.

 

BWXT team lands $30B federal nuclear contract

A joint venture led by a Lynchburg-based BWX Technologies subsidiary has been awarded a potential $30 billion Department of Energy contract to operate a nuclear weapons plant in Texas, the company announced Friday.

The DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration awarded the contract to PanTeXas Deterrence (PXD), a joint venture led by BWXT’s Technical Services Group that also includes Arlington County-based Fluor Federal Services, Chantilly-based SOC and the Texas A&M University system. The group will manage and operate the Pantex plant, a facility near Amarillo, Texas, that is responsible for maintaining the safety, security and effectiveness of the United States’ nuclear weapons stockpile, according to BWXT.

The contract includes an initial term of five years, and afterwards, NNSA can award three more five-year option periods. If all options are exercised, the contract will span 20 years at approximately $30 billion. The joint venture will assume operations at Pantex after a four-month transition period expected to begin in mid-July, according to the NNSA. The estimated value of the contract is $1.5 billion a year.

A Tennessee-based joint venture, Consolidated Nuclear Security — led by Bechtel National, a subsidiary of Reston-based Bechtel Corp., and including Reston-based Leidos as a minority member — currently holds the contract for Pantex and the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee. CNS’ Pantex contract portion expires Sept. 30, according to the NNSA.

The work at Pantex includes nuclear weapons surveillance, assembly and dismantlement, as well as support of the weapons’ life extension programs, according to BWXT. Other tasks involve development and fabrication of high explosive components and storage and surveillance of plutonium pits.

“This is an important contract win for us and leverages our unique core competencies and capabilities in nuclear operations,” said Heatherly H. Dukes, president of BWXT’s Technical Services Group. “The PanTeXas Deterrence team was purpose-built to bring the very best of industry experience together to meet crucial global security imperatives. We look forward to getting started with a strong emphasis on safe and secure operations in full support of NNSA’s integrated Nuclear Security Enterprise.”

In February, the Pantex plant was in the news as a fast-moving wildfire in the Texas Panhandle threatened the facility. According to the Associated Press, Pantex is one of six production facilities in the NNSA’s Nuclear Security Enterprise, and has been the main U.S. site for assembling and disassembling atomic bombs since 1975. The last time Pantex produced a new bomb was in 1991.