By Roger Harris
Posted February 9, 2012 at 4:27 p.m., updated February 9, 2012 at 6:48 p.m.
With construction of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 more than a year behind schedule and significantly over budget, TVA announced Thursday new leadership for the reactor project.
Coming out of retirement to head engineering and construction for Unit 2 is retired TVA executive Ike Zeringue.
The former president, chief operating officer and chief nuclear officer at TVA retired in 2005. Zeringue was the TVA executive who led the completion of Watts Bar Unit 1 in 1993.
TVA recently said Unit 2 will cost significantly more than the $2.5 billion originally budgeted and won't be completed until 2013, a year later than expected.
Installation of equipment is taking longer than originally planned, the agency said. The plant also has been hampered by safety incidents, including one in January that halted work by 1,000 employees and contract workers for three days when it was discovered that cables had been mistakenly removed from Unit 1 instead of being taken from Unit 2.
TVA launched a review of Unit 2 construction in August and expects to recommend a plan for finishing the project, including a new cost estimate, in the second quarter, said Mike Skaggs, TVA's senior vice president for nuclear generation, development and construction.
In addition to bringing Zeringue out of retirement, TVA is reassigning some existing nuclear executives.
Dave Stinson, previously vice president of construction at Watts Bar Unit 2, now is in charge of engineering, design and infrastructure planning at Bellefonte Nuclear Plant Unit 1 .
Ray Hruby, will move from Bellefonte to Watts Bar Unit 2 to manage overall project work, licensing, and safety.
The utility also said that when Bill McCollum, chief operating officer and president, retires in June, that position will not be filled.
In addition, the agency has eliminated a senior vice president position in its fossil power generation group. Robert Fisher, the executive who previously held that job, already has left TVA.
Other personnel changes are possible, according to the public utility. The management shuffle is intended to "align our strengths with our priorities" and "flatten the organization," Skaggs said in a telephone news conference with reporters.
The heads of TVA's nuclear and fossil divisions now will report directly to CEO Tom Kilgore.
The management shuffle is part of a broader organizational realignment the agency says will save money and reduce pressure on rates paid by consumers.
"We are aligning our business into functional teams focused on energy generation and energy delivery. Nuclear generation and construction will be separate groups reporting directly to the CEO. There should be no doubt as to the importance of nuclear in our energy mix," Kilgore said in a statement.
The energy generation organization will include coal, natural gas, renewables and hydroelectric power. The energy delivery organization will focus on delivery of reliable power to customers and the agency's relationship with distributors.
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