News

USA board announces new leadership

Author: Joe Delmar

The Utilities Service Alliance (USA) Board of Directors announced the election today of PPL Susquehanna’s Tim Rausch as board chairman and Energy Northwest’s Brad Sawatzke as board vice chairman. Rausch had previously served as vice chairman and succeeds PSEG Nuclear’s Tom Joyce who completed two terms as board chairman. Rausch will serve a two-year term...

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Cost Effective Excellence: 2014 Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo sponsored by USA

Author: Chip Palazzo

Achieving excellence in the nuclear industry poses a challenge to every utility, large or small, particularly in light of increased performance expectations and heightened budgetary concerns. Doing so with an eye on cost-effectiveness only multiplies our challenge – and the difficulties increase exponentially. But excellence on a budget is achievable. Join your USA peers this...

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Continuous Improvement Award Finalist Spotlight: Graybar Electric

Author: Lynne Hilton

As mentioned last month, many excellent suppliers applied for USA’s annual Continuous Improvement (CI) Award, and though we couldn’t give awards to all of these suppliers, we wanted to. This article is the second in a series of articles spotlighting our Continuous Improvement award finalists and the innovative things they are doing in the nuclear...

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USA Leadership Profile: Fred Eisenhuth, USA Management Council Representative, PPL Susquehanna

Author: Chip Palazzo

Fred Eisenhuth, PPL Susquehanna’s Management Council (MC) Representative and MC Sponsor for Operations and Outage Excellence Core Peer Teams has invested more than three years with Utilities Service Alliance (USA). But his service as ‘MC Rep’ with USA – at first blush, three years doesn’t sound like an extensive history – taps into Fred’s 36...

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Columbia Evacuates for Emergency Drill

Author: Chuck Forrester

USA Member Columbia Generating Station conducted an Emergency Response Operations training drill (ERO Team A) on May 6 with overall solid performance and with no significant ERO performance deficiencies noted. All of the emergency centers successfully activated within expected timelines, and classification, notifications, and Protective Action Recommendations were timely and accurate. However, this was no...

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Door-to-Door Safety

Author: Dave Lefor

We use them every day at work, home and most locations that we visit. Most of us don’t give a second thought to opening or closing a door because it’s part of our daily routine. Doors are not as benign as they look, in fact each year thousands of door accidents take place. Some of...

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Earth Day Round-up: USA members show their support of the environment

Author: Digital Lagoon

This past Earth Day, many USA member stations celebrated by holding planet-protecting events within their local communities. Below are some highlights of the good things our members are doing for the environment. Prairie Island employees partner with local high school for earth day activities Employees from the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant volunteered to make...

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DTE Energy files application for Fermi 2 license renewal

Author: Stephen Tait

Utilities Service Alliance member DTE Energy filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 30 to renew the license for its Fermi 2 nuclear power plant. U.S. nuclear power plants were originally licensed for 40 years of operation. For Fermi 2, the original license ends in 2025. A successful license renewal process...

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Photos from the Field: Columbia’s dry cask storage campaign

Author: Kelly Rae

Reactor maintenance crews at USA member Columbia Generating Station guide in a multi-purpose canister in preparation for the site’s dry cask storage campaign. The last cask loading at Columbia was six years ago. This spring, nine new casks, each filled with 68 spent fuel assemblies, will methodically make their way to the Independent Spent Fuel...

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Monticello begins external flooding barrier project

Author: Lisa Kuehl

This spring, USA Member Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant began an External Flooding Barrier Project to enhance flood protection strategy by installing permanent infrastructure. This infrastructure will decrease the time required to install temporary flood protection in the event of the design-basis probable maximum flood. The installation of a bin wall along the north side of...

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