Nuclear Energy Industry Transitions

Tom Kilgore, president and chief operating officer of the Tennessee Valley Authority, is set to serve a three-year term on the Nuclear Energy Institute's executive committee. The committee unanimously elected Kilgore at its July 6 meeting.

As their merger nears closure, Exelon Corporation and Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG) have announced an operating structure for their new combined company, Exelon Electric & Gas.

The new company’s president and chief executive officer will be John W. Rowe, now chairman, president and CEO of Exelon. PSEG’s current chairman, president and CEO, E. James Ferland, will become non-executive chairman of the board. Ferland plans to retire in spring 2007.

Key senior management changes within the new operating structure include the following:

• John Skolds will transition from executive vice president of Exelon, and president of Exelon Energy Delivery and Exelon Generation, to senior executive vice president of operations for Exelon Electric & Gas.
• Frank Clark, current executive vice president and chief of staff for Exelon, will continue these roles for Exelon Electric & Gas. He will also shift from president to chairman of ComEd.
• Exelon Electric & Gas’ new executive vice president of and president of Exelon Energy Delivery will be Ralph Izzo, the current PSE&G president and chief operating officer.
• Ian McLean, Exelon executive vice president, will continue in this role for Exelon Electric & Gas. He will also remain president of Exelon Power Team.
• Randall Mehrberg, who now serves as Exelon’s executive vice president, general counsel and chief integration officer, will become the combined company’s executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief legal officer.
• Elizabeth Moler will be Exelon Electric & Gas’ executive vice president, government and environmental affairs and public policy. She currently holds these positions with Exelon.
• Thomas O’Flynn, PSEG executive vice president and chief financial officer, will transition to executive vice president of generation finance and business planning for Exelon Generation.
• R. Edwin Selover will become executive vice president of governance for the newly merged company. He is currently senior vice president and general counsel for PSEG, PSE&G and PSEG Services Corporation.
• Exelon’s S. Gary Snodgrass will continue in his role as executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Exelon Electric & Gas.
• John Young, Exelon’s executive vice president of finance and markets, will become executive vice president of finance and holdings for the combined company.
• Christopher Crane will continue as Exelon Nuclear’s president and chief nuclear officer. Crane is currently also senior vice president, Exelon, and president and CEO, AmerGen.
• Ruth Ann Gillis will be the president of Exelon Services Company. She currently serves as senior vice president, Exelon, and executive vice president, ComEd.
• Denis O’Brien will remain president of PECO Energy.
• Exelon’s David Woods will continue in his role as senior vice president, governmental and public affairs, for the new company.

Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. has appointed Mark G. Mindell vice president of human resources.

Tom Palmisano began this week as site vice president of Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant, owned by Xcel Energy and operated by Nuclear Management Co. Previously, Palmisano was site vice president of Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant for about two years. Site Director John Conway will replace Palmisano at Monticello.

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Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

How Much Land Does Nuclear, Wind and Solar Really Need?

Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...

NEI Nuclear Notes

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