PPL Susquehanna recently appointed an industry veteran with nearly 30 years of military and commercial nuclear power experience as its new site vice president for the Susquehanna nuclear power station. Jon A. Franke joins PPL on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, from the Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida, where he served as site vice president since 2009, and previously served as director of site operations and plant general manager.
“We are fortunate to be adding a proven leader who has a history of producing results that are among the industry’s best for nuclear safety and operations,” said PPL Susquehanna’s Chief Nuclear Officer Tim Rausch. “Jon’s years of hands-on nuclear operating experience, his ability to articulate and achieve a clearly defined vision for performance excellence, and his advanced degrees in both engineering and business are an ideal combination for this important leadership position at PPL Susquehanna.”
Prior to Jon’s assignment at the Crystal River plant, he held a variety of management positions at the Brunswick nuclear plant in North Carolina from 1991 to 2002.
“During that timeframe, Jon also earned a Senior Reactor Operator’s license on Brunswick’s GE BWR 4 – similar in design to Susquehanna’s operating units – which gives us an advantage in that he has extensive knowledge of how to operate and maintain them,” said Tim.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy where he achieved the rank of lieutenant commander, Jon is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and earned dual master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland and business administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
“Jon clearly has delivered success during his earlier assignments by setting a clear vision of excellence, establishing business plans and driving performance through strong accountability and oversight models – behaviors and characteristics we foster and value at PPL Susquehanna,” said Plant Manager Jeff Helsel. “With Jon’s leadership here, I expect our success track and trajectory to continue to improve as well.”
John Franke, Susquehanna’s new Site Vice President