Fort Calhoun Station Earns Top Industry Award

May 7, 2008

When Omaha Public Power District’s Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station began its 2006 Refueling Outage it included a refurbishment project then considered the largest in scope in the history of the nuclear industry. That project was successfully completed five days ahead of schedule and more than $30 million under budget. The planning and execution it took to make that happen has now been recognized by those in the nuclear industry.

Fort Calhoun Station has been selected to receive one of the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI) Top Industry Practice or TIP awards for 2008. The awards, considered among the most prestigious in the nuclear industry, were presented during the organization’s annual conference in Chicago on May 6. Fort Calhoun Station was named in the category of Work Management for the 2006 Refueling Outage which saw the replacement of many of the plant’s major components.

The TIP awards were established by the Nuclear Energy Institute in 1994 as a means to recognize nuclear energy operators for innovations that improve safety, efficiency, economics or plant performance in thirteen categories – nine involving processes and four vendor awards. NEI is an industry-based organization with more than 300 corporate members.

Receiving the award on behalf of OPPD were Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Dave Bannister and Manager of Major Projects Ron Short.  In addition to the category of Work Management, won by the employees at Fort Calhoun Station, other selected processes evaluated for awards included:

1.   Plant Operation

2.   Configuration Management

3.   Work Management

4.   Equipment Reliability

5.   Materials and Services

6.   Management Processes and Support Services

7.   Loss Prevention

8.   Training

9.   Fuel

NEI notes that it received more than 100 entries for last year’s awards.

OPPD Announces Appointments

April 23, 2008

The Omaha Public Power District has announced the following appointments:

Susan M. Hepp has been appointed to the position of Supervisor of Customer Service Technology, Customer Operations Division effective April 20. Ms. Hepp began her career with OPPD in 2002.  She most recently served as a Customer Operations Technology Specialist. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Park University.

Thomas C. Matthews has been promoted to the position of Manager of Nuclear Licensing, Nuclear Engineering Division effective April 20. Mr. Matthews more recently served as Supervisor of Nuclear Licensing. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science. He began his career with OPPD in 1989.

Amy S. Hansen has been appointed to the position of Supervisor of Performance Enhancement, Nuclear Quality and Performance Improvement Division effective April 20. Ms. Hansen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from Bellevue University as well as a degree from the Nebraska College of Business. She most recently served as Operating Experience Coordinator. She began her career with OPPD in 1998.

NatureWorks Latest to Earn Energy Award from OPPD

April 21, 2008

It is the first and largest producer of bio-polymers in the world. It is also the 25th winner of the Omaha Public Power District’s J.M. Harding Award of Excellence for innovative and efficient use of energy. The company is NatureWorks LLC, a joint venture of Cargill, Incorporated, and Teijin Limited of Japan located in Blair, Nebraska.

The Harding Award is given out annually by OPPD to one of its large commercial or industrial customers and is named after the district’s first president, J.M. Harding.

NatureWorks began as a research project for Cargill in 1998 to look for new uses of carbohydrates from plants to use as feedstock to produce sustainable plastics. Since then, NatureWorkNas has become a world leader in producing a corn-based cWorommercial resin called polyactide polymer (PLA) which is used to manufacture everything from food packaging to personal care items and even more durable items such as automobile parts and electrical appliance parts.

NatureWorks notes that the process used to produce the polymer consumes about 65 percent less fossil energy than hydrocarbon and oil-based polymers and generates 80 to 90 percent less greenhouse gases.

The Harding Award was presented by OPPD President Gary Gates during a luncheon today at Omaha’s Hilton Hotel. Mr. Gates praised NatureWorks for its efforts to efficiently use energy at its facility while producing an environmentally-friendly product that is also compostable.

 “In recent years, we have seen this nation focus more than ever on energy efficiency, developing new sources of energy, conservation and concern for the environment,” said Mr. Gates. “NatureWorks is combining those efforts in an innovative fashion at its facility in Nebraska. They have been a true partner with OPPD.”

NatureWorks President and CEO Dennis McGrew called receiving the award a “proud moment.”

“Our employees have worked very hard to make sure that we live up daily to the commitment that we have made about environmental responsibility,” said Mr. McGrew.

“Efficiency improvements in our operation are critical to long-term success whether it be energy efficiency or efficiency in the use of our raw materials. Both are important to make sure that we have the most cost competitive material in the world.”

NatureWorks began producing material at the Blair plant in 2003. The facility was designed to use the latest technology to optimize its energy utilization, such as variable frequency motors to drive the plant’s machinery, energy efficient lighting, heating and cooling, and advanced engineering techniques and processes designed to use the least amount of energy and recover energy as efficiently as possible.

In addition to presenting the Harding Award, Mr. Gates also presented two scholarships at today’s luncheon. The scholarships are funded by two events, the luncheon and the Warren R. Swigart Memorial Golf Tournament.

One of the students receiving a scholarship was Mr. Dakota M. Kelley who is a sophomore enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska. Mr. Kelley is majoring in Architectural Engineering. He holds a grade point average of 3.984.

The other scholarship was presented to Ms. Tara J. Ryan. Ms. Ryan is enrolled in the College of Business Administration at Creighton University. She is a sophomore majoring in Management. She holds a 3.79 grade point average.

Fort Calhoun 2008 Refueling Outage Begins

April 21, 2008

The Omaha Public Power District’s nuclear power plant, Fort Calhoun Station, was taken off line this past weekend, April 19, 2008, for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage.  A nuclear plant such as Fort Calhoun shuts down approximately every 18 months to refuel.

During the outage, about one third of the fuel assemblies in the reactor core will be replaced with new fuel, which will remain in the reactor for approximately four and a half years. 

In all, plant personnel and numerous other OPPD employees will perform hundreds of activities with supplemental workers from outside companies assisting. In all, around 1,300 workers will take part in nearly 10,000 activities and tasks during the outage.

Besides refueling the plant, workers will conduct numerous tests and perform preventive maintenance on plant equipment and instrumentation to ensure the plant continues to perform safely at peak efficiency. Workers will take the opportunity to inspect the plant’s steam generators installed in 2006. They will also inspect the turbine that uses the steam created by the plant to generate electricity.

When operating, Fort Calhoun Station generates approximately 500 million watts of emission-free power.

The Omaha Public Power District serves nearly 340-thousand retail customers, the most of any utility in Nebraska.