Nuclear Energy Industry Transitions

PG&E Corp. has elected Hyun Park senior vice president and general counsel. Park succeeds Bruce Worthington.

Jack Davis will join Detroit Edison as senior vice president and chief nuclear officer early next year. Davis, currently site vice president at Dominion Energy’s North Anna Power Station, will succeed Doug Gipson, who will retire from executive vice president and chief nuclear officer.

Consumers Energy is restructuring its executive team, the first step in reorganizing the utility. The following changes are effective Dec. 1.
• James Coddington, now vice president of fossil operations, will become vice president of generation operations.
• Robert Fenech, now senior vice president of nuclear, fossil and hydro operations, will assume a transition leadership role, pending his retirement in June 2007.
• Jack Hanson, now site business manager for the Cambpell Generating Complex, will become vice president of generation engineering and services.
• Frank Johnson, now senior vice president of electric transmission and distribution, will become senior vice president of energy operations.
• James Pomaranski, now executive manager of Title 1 projects, will become vice president of generation construction.
• Paul Preketes, now senior vice president of gas operations, will become senior vice president of energy delivery.
• Ronn Rasmussen, now executive director of rates and business support, will become vice president of rates and regulation.

Tim Barfield Jr. resigned as president of The Shaw Group Inc. Nov. 17 to pursue other interests. He had been with Shaw since 1994 and had served as president and chief operating officer since 2003. J.M. Bernhard Jr., chairman and CEO of Shaw, will assume Barfield’s responsibilities as president.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has named Ricardo Fernandes the new resident inspector at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, Conn. He previously worked in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response.

Michael Rescoe will resign as chief financial officer and executive vice president of financial services for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Rescoe, who joined TVA in 2003, will become chief financial officer at Travelport Ltd. John Hoskins, TVA’s senior vice president and treasurer, will serve as interim chief financial officer.

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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...

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