Working with Utilities Service Alliance fleet members, Columbia’s USA site representative and corporate functional area manager for outages Dick Ehr is working with his peer group to improve outage performance at all 10 USA nuclear facilities.

“The work completed during a refueling and maintenance outage supports the safe and reliable operation of nuclear plants,” Ehr said. “The development of common USA outage processes will support alignment of the fleet and the utilization of resources wisely.” The CFAM and site representatives’ primary role is to drive consistency and excellence in performance over the USA fleet. This is conducted through the development and implementation of standardized policies, programs, processes and practices that are aligned to industry excellence.

Ehr’s role as Columbia’s USA site representative and CFAM outages manager began in January as part USA’s new Governance, Oversight, Support and Perform model, relies on strong accountability from the USA Board of Directors and Site Leadership Team down through the station employees. A tiered elevation and escalation process provides clear communications of performance shortfalls such that declines can be arrested before they accelerate and become a bigger concern. Ehr meets with all of the CFAMs on a weekly basis, and peer team outage managers monthly to discuss outage preparation and execution. Managers can also ask for assistance from other fleet members.

“While managing the equipment and the people working to get the job done is the top priority, it’s never at the expense of safety,” Ehr said.

USA fleet members with spring outages are:
Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1
D.C. Cook Unit 1
Salem Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1
Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, Unit 1