What changed when they automated

What changed when a nuclear plant inspected its condensers in 8 hours instead of 8 days

October 1, 2026 · 3 min read

Dominion Energy's Surry Power Plant used to build scaffolding inside its main condensers and work crews at height through seven days of twelve hour shifts. Its unmanned systems group now flies a collision tolerant drone inside the condenser during shutdowns. The vendor publishes inspections cut from 8 days to 8 hours and more than 200,000 dollars saved per shutdown.

The short answer

A two reactor nuclear plant replaced scaffold based condenser inspections with flights of a caged indoor drone carrying a camera, LiDAR and an ultrasonic thickness payload, and now completes the inspection in two twelve hour shifts rather than seven. The vendor publishes savings of more than 200,000 dollars per shutdown on condenser inspections alone. The account below is the maker's own case story, so read every number as the vendor published it, not as an audited result.

What the job looked like before

Condenser inspections meant building scaffolding inside the condenser, a dark, wet confined space with work heights of 20 meters, and running crews at height through seven days of twelve hour shifts. The vendor states scaffolding took 12 to 14 twelve hour shifts to erect and 4 to 6 to dismantle with a minimum of six scaffolders per shift, at a cost over 1,000 dollars an hour, in a plant that can lose over 3 million dollars in revenue per shutdown day.

What they put in

A Flyability Elios 3 with a 4K camera, LiDAR and an ultrasonic thickness payload, flown by the plant's own unmanned systems group during shutdowns. The data feeds a 3D model used for longer term condition tracking.

What changed, in their numbers

Inspections cut from 8 days to 8 hours per the case study title, and completed in two twelve hour shifts rather than seven days of them. Over 200,000 dollars saved per shutdown on condenser inspections. Scaffolding over 1,000 dollars per hour and 12 to 14 shifts to erect. An inspection cycle of every 16 to 18 months, reported by trade press in coverage adapted from the vendor account. All other figures published by the vendor. Program cost and payback were not published.

What this does not tell you

This is a nuclear utility with its own unmanned systems group, flight approvals and inspection engineers, which is not the situation of most plants reading this. The account does not publish what the drone program cost or how long the pilots took to qualify. And a drone inspection finds the problems; where repairs are needed, the scaffold still goes up, only in fewer places.

What to verify before you fly

Your scaffold, permit and downtime cost per inspection, which is the number the aircraft has to beat. Whether your inspection is visual and thickness, which an aircraft can carry, or requires contact work it cannot. Who would fly, since Steel Collar is never the operator of record, and what approvals that person needs, which belongs with a qualified specialist. And if public or federal money is involved, the aircraft's sourcing and compliance status before any shortlist.

Sources: https://www.flyability.com/casestudies/condenser-inspection

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