The positive benefits of being a member of the Utilities Service Alliance (USA) continued to be realized at the Prairie Island plant. An example of this is a recent visit by Brian Evans, Operations Training Manager from the Cook Nuclear Plant. Evans visited Prairie Island to help leaders in the Control Room identify areas in which efficiencies could be gained. His 25-plus years of experience as a plant operator, senior license holder, and assistant operations manager provided valuable insights regarding the application of Control Room teamwork. While at Prairie Island, Evans compared industry-leading standards to day-to-day practices in the Control Room and in the field.

“Brian confirmed what we already believed were our areas of concern and helped us to identify actions needed to address them,” said Joe Ruttar, Operations Manager at Prairie Island. “Effective implementation of these actions will allow our operations team to eliminate distractions and allow for increased focus on oversight in the Control Room.”

The Nuclear Department’s membership in USA is part of a strategic initiative to ensure continued safe, reliable, and predictable nuclear operations at Prairie Island and Monticello. “Utilizing services like these available to us through USA allows us to compare ourselves to other nuclear plants and align to industry best performance,” said Aldo Capristo, senior director, projects, policy and nuclear service.