InsideTVA - March 2010

InsideTVA a monthly publication of the Tennessee Valley Authority

Volume 30, Issue 3 March 2010

Nuclear power

alive and well TVA’s Brady Queen-Peden and Siemens’ James “Pic” McClain

my job rocks J. Andrew Howe

page 8

Make

medicine

work for you page 10

pages 6-7

In this issue March 2010

Charlie McEntyre, TVA Engineer of the Year

3

Across TVA

4

Winning Performance 2010: rates, reliability, responsibility

5

Nuclear power – alive and well

6-7

My job rocks – J. Andrew Howe

8

Saved by giving

9

New retirees

9

Make medicine work for you

10

Employee receives Bronze Star

11

People, plaudits & promotions

11

New employee – Monica Kalal

11

Measuring TVA’s environmental footprint

12

staff

Editor – La’Nita Jones Production Editor – Nancy Cann Art Director – Kym Morrison Stone Photo Editor – Cletus Mitchell Correspondents

Suggestions for articles can be sent to the following correspondents

Nuclear Plants Bellefonte – Susan Gentle Browns Ferry – Jason Huffine Sequoyah and Watts Bar – Kay Whittenburg

Widows Creek – Debbie Crabtree

FOSSIL Plants Allen – Josephine Moore and Angela Simpson Bull Run – Mary Nolan Colbert – Sharon Johnson Cumberland – Sandra Parchman Gallatin – Kriste Lanius John Sevier – Norma Cato Johnsonville – Stefanie Moore Kingston – Beth Jackson Paradise – Janet Tingley Shawnee – Debby Abell

RIVER OPERATIONS and ENVIRONMENT & Technology Barbara Martocci

POWER SERVICE SHOPS Teressa Williams

Nuclear Generation, Development & Construction Terry Johnson

Hot topics

EnergyRight® Solutions The new brand for TVA’s energy-efficiency programs TVA has launched its new brand, EnergyRight Solutions, through a comprehensive advertising campaign across the Tennessee Valley. The new brand includes all the programs offered by TVA’s Energy Efficiency & Demand Response organization.

EnergyRight Solutions was developed in conjunction with TVA’s power distributors. It includes the new In-Home Energy Evaluation Program and the online home energy audit, as well as programs for residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The advertising campaign to promote EnergyRight Solutions includes TV, print and radio advertising.

The TV spots feature a detective character helping homeowners rid their homes of pesky − and expensive − “wasted kilowatts.”

Students learning about energy efficiency Twenty-one Tennessee schools in Knox, Shelby and Washington counties are participating in a pilot program TVA and local power distributors are offering to save energy and money for the schools while enhancing students’ understanding of energy efficiency.

During the first quarter of the Green Schools pilot program, launched in August 2009, the schools saved a combined 500,000 kilowatt-hours or nearly $52,000 on their electric bills. Participants ranged from elementary to high schools.

TVA and the Knoxville Utilities Board; Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division; and Johnson City Power Board will use the pilot results to determine the program’s potential for schools across the Tennessee Valley. “Students are learning how much money and energy can be saved by adjusting thermostats by just one or two degrees,” says Jolyn Newton, program manager for TVA Energy Efficiency Education & Outreach.

Bull Run earns Environmental Business Award A project to reduce emissions at Bull Run Fossil Plant has won the Environmental Business Journal 2009 Business Achievement Award for Air Pollution Control.

The smokestack scrubber system, in service since December 2008, has cut the plant’s sulfur-dioxide emissions 98 percent, or about 95,000 tons per year. The project is part of TVA’s $172-million investment in 2009 to reduce fossil-plant emissions.

Fossil generation Jessica Stone

Additional information

“These award-winning improvements at Bull Run are indicative of the clean-air upgrades being made at many of our fossil plants,” says Ron Nash, program manager for TVA’s Fossil Power Group. “The emissions reductions and national awards associated with this project reflect our commitment to improve air quality in the Tennessee Valley.”

TVA is an equal-opportunity and affirmative-action employer.

TVA also ensures that the benefits of programs receiving TVA financial assistance are available to all eligible persons, regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability or age.

Inside TVA will be made available in alternate format, such as Braille, large print or audiocassette, upon request.

For information, call 865-632-4676 (TTY 865-632-2178).

Inside TVA is printed on recyclable, 100-percent postconsumer recycled paper.

Across its fleet of coal-fired power plants, TVA has cut sulfur-dioxide emissions by 85 percent since 1977 and nitrogen-oxide emissions by 82 percent since 1995 under an ongoing $5.5-billion program to reduce fossil-plant emissions.

Comments and suggestions are welcome. Send them to Inside TVA, SP 2B-C, 1101 Market St., Chattanooga, TN 37402, or call 423-751-2540. Retirees with mailing-address changes should call Retirement Services at 865-632-2672.

Inside TVA is available on the TVA Web site at http://www.tva. com/insidetva .

On the cover COVER PHOTO – Project Controls Specialist Brady Queen-Peden and Siemens Project Manager James “Pic” McClain are on the turbine deck at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. Queen-Peden and McClain are part of the team working on the Watts Bar Unit 2 construction. Photo by David Luttrell.

Charlie McEntyre TVA

E ngineer

of

the

Y ear

By Brooks Clark Photo by David Luttrell

S

ince 1976, Charlie McEntyre has served as a fireman with the Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department in Marion County, Tenn., where he answers some 25 to 45 calls a year. At 1 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, he was awakened by the emergency tones from his fire department radio, followed by a dispatcher sending out the word that there was a fire.

McEntyre drove the mile and a half to the fire hall, donned his emergency gear, rolled out on the truck and spent the next four hours dousing the fire caused by a skillet left on a burner.

McEntyre, 59, a senior specialist for environmental engineering services in Environment & Technology, had enjoyed a different kind of excitement just two days before, when he and Ruthie, his wife of 38 years, flew to Washington, D.C., as TVA’s Engineer of the Year and one of the top-10 finalists for the Federal Engineer of the Year. “I was surprised to be nominated for TVA Engineer of the Year,” says McEntyre. “And I was surprised to win it, surprised to make the top 10 and astounded that I made the trip to D.C.” Senior Vice President of Environment & Technology Anda Ray says McEntyre was invaluable as one of TVA’s environmental unit leaders in the early stages of the December 2008 ash spill at Kingston Fossil Plant.

“I was there on the night of the twenty-second — the date of the spill,” he says. “My colleagues and I set up environmental monitoring and sampling and coordinated with Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation and the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency. I did 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the first week and then alternated shifts with environmental unit leaders Neal Carriker and Anne Aiken. I was there most weeks through April 2009.”

McEntyre started with TVA as a shift chemist at Widows Creek in 1972 and ’73. He left to pursue a master’s degree in environmental engineering at the University of Tennessee. In December 1975, he rejoined TVA in the Division of Environmental Planning, working out of the 401 Building in Chattanooga and assessing wastewater issues at the 29 hydro plants.

“I feel as though I’ve had five separate mini-careers,” says McEntyre.

“I went from hydro into fossil wastewater special studies. Then I moved to solid-waste outreach, which involved landfill design and operation. After that, I focused on hazardous waste to help meet the new regulations. Then I moved into waste reduction and pollution prevention, which was then part of Economic Development. After two years with the Synterprise Group working on industrial-waste reduction, I moved to Land & Water Stewardship.”

He joined Environmental Engineering Services in 2000.

McEntyre has published more than 45 papers and articles and is a certified master-level hazardous-materials manager. He also serves on the Water & Environment Research Foundation’s Decentralized Research Advisory Council as an expert in wastewater treatment-plant optimization and energy efficiency.

“It’s been fun,” says McEntyre. “As long as TVA lets me have fun, I plan to stay.” n Inside TVA | March 2010 | 3

A CR O S S TV A

TVA engineer finds hope, brother in Haiti

By Duncan Mansfield

TVA engineer Georges Charles found devastation, hope and a beloved half brother he hadn’t seen in more than 20 years during a mission trip to earthquake-scarred Haiti.

“The images on television were nothing to actually experiencing it,” says Charles, 31, who works in Power System Operations in Chattanooga. He spent March 5-13 in Haiti delivering food, clearing debris and ministering to the survivors of the Jan. 12 quake that claimed more than 200,000 lives.

“The country is in desperate need of help,” says Charles, a Haitian native, who came to the United States with his family when he was 7. Yet this prodigal son found children laughing and in good spirits at the orphanage in Portau-Prince where he stayed with a volunteer group organized by SCORE International.

The high point was reuniting with his 34-yearold half brother, Jean-Marie, whom Charles had stayed close to, by telephone, over the

years but hadn’t hugged since he was a boy.

Charles was able to visit with Jean-Marie every morning before he began his aid work and every evening after he returned, then he spent his entire last day in Haiti with JeanMarie’s family.

Charles used articles from the February Inside TVA and the Chattanooga Times Free Press about his search for his brother to convince authorities that Jean-Marie was his sibling.

Most of Jean-Marie’s papers, including his birth certificate and passport, were lost when the quake destroyed his home.

Later, Charles translated the stories for his Haitian relatives. “My brother couldn’t believe it, he was in tears. Everybody kept a copy. It was like a treasure for them.”

Charles hopes his brother will gain his visa to the U.S. this summer. Meanwhile, he will continue to pray and work for the recovery of his childhood home.

Georges Charles with his brother Jean-Marie

‘Fraud’ poster wins ADDY awards

Cletus Mitchell

A poster for TVA’s Office of Inspector General recently received two awards in the 45th Annual ADDY Awards competition, hosted by the Knoxville chapter of the American Advertising Federation. The poster and a related video were used to promote the Office of Inspector General’s message to TVA employees about what they can do if they suspect fraud is occurring in a TVA program or operation.

The first award for the Office of Inspector General poster was the Silver ADDY Award for color photography, and the second award was a Bronze Citation of Excellence.

Displaying history From left, Ed Ripley, a historian of the Negro Baseball Leagues, and Bryan Steverson, a writer, researcher and lecturer on the history of African-American baseball, talk with Jason Woodle of TVA’s Diversity & Labor Relations group. At the Feb. 24 Black History Month event, Steverson discussed African-American baseball’s influence on society, sports history and racial barriers. Steverson is a member of the Society of American Baseball Research and the Negro League Baseball Museum. Steverson’s colleague Ripley displayed a collection of baseball artifacts and memorabilia in the West Tower Plaza Feb. 23-24.

4 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

The poster and the video were created by TradeMark Advertising. “We appreciate the fine work of TradeMark and the ADDY award,” says TVA Inspector General Richard Moore. “The key is the poster’s role in catching the eye of potential tipsters who we hope will call us. Our office is in the intelligence business. We depend on honest folks to call us when they see fraud, waste and abuse.”

Say it your way

What’s on your book shelf?

During an employee forum last month, Chief Executive Officer Tom Kilgore told employees he was reading “Creating the Accountable Organization” by Mark Samuel.

In fact, he gave copies to Business Council members.

Inside TVA wants to know what’s on employees’ bookshelves. What business books are you reading and how are they helping you with your work? To respond, go to the online edition of Inside TVA on InsideNet and click on the link for the InsideLine comment box, or go to http://www.tva.gov/insidetva/mar10/insideLine.htm . Your responses will be posted on the site.

W inning P erf o rmance 2 0 1 0

Rates | Reliability | Responsibility

By Brooks Clark

The streamlined Winning Performance program for this fiscal year focuses on three areas: power rates, plant reliability and everyone’s responsibility for workplace safety and the environment.

The updated program reduces the number of enterprise goals from four to two.

Those two goals – net cash flow and plant reliability – will drive half the potential payout for employees in all operating organizations.

The other half of their potential awards will depend on their organizations’ performance on more specific measures for spending, reliability, safety and reportable environmental events.

Payouts for employees without organizationspecific scorecards will be based only on TVA’s performance on the two enterprise goals mentioned above.

The plan includes a new “corporate modifier” that allows management to recommend that all payouts be increased by as much as 10 percent or decreased by as much as 20 percent to reflect extraordinary or unsatisfactory performance for the year.

Examples of factors potentially affecting the corporate modifier for 2010 would be the Kingston recovery, progress in the Organizational Effectiveness Initiative and

progress in TVA’s energy efficiency and demand-reduction programs.

“The 50/50 split between enterprise-wide and organization-specific goals is designed to encourage collaboration across TVA,” says Steve Birchfield, vice president of Performance Analysis & Productivity.

“The new plan also recognizes significant performance improvement by adjusting the range of performance achievement that qualifies for a payout. Reaching the threshold level results in a payout of 50 percent, but reaching the stretch level means an award of 150 percent.”

Last year, reaching the threshold level meant a 75-percent payout, and hitting the stretch target earned a payout of 125 percent for that goal.

Employees are getting more information about their organizations’ specific measures from their supervisors. Winning Performance updates will be reported in TVA Today and posted on the Winning Performance Web site http://insidenet.tva.gov/ winningperformance/ . n

Focusing on the three Rs The Winning Performance measures focus on the factors Chief Executive Officer Tom Kilgore uses to measure TVA’s overall performance: rates, reliability and responsibility:

Rates • •

Corporate measure

Threshold

Target

Stretch

Net cash flow

$150M less than budget

Budget

$150M more than budget

Plant reliability

84.7%

86.5%

88.5%

Keep rates as low as feasible

Reliability • •

Improve plant reliability and efficiency Maintain transmission system reliability

Responsibility • •

More on the corporate measures Net cash flow measures management’s ability to control spending during the year and includes all components of TVA’s operating and capital costs. The plant reliability measure reflects the availability of baseload generating units to produce power. Here are the TVA-wide performance targets.

Live within TVA’s means

•

Environment: Demonstrate proactive environmental leadership Employees: Cultivate a safe and organizationally healthy workplace Stakeholders: Behave in a way that enhances TVA’s reputation and contributes to economic development.

The 2010 target for plant reliability is 0.9 percent better than TVA’s 2009 performance.

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 5

Nuclear power

alive and well

By Terry Johnson

Work on Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 officially began in October 2007, with a target completion in five years.

Work to finish the second unit now is in full swing.

Completing Unit 2 involves two major activities: physical construction and preparation for operation, says Unit 2 Engineering Manager Ed Freeman. “We started construction by ramping up engineering to prepare work packages the crews doing the physical work would need to complete the unit.”

Contract staff members have completed about 2.6 million hours of design work, producing more than 570 design plans and 2,300 calculations. Installation of the upgraded high-pressure and three low-pressure turbines that drive the generator is nearly complete. The moving component, or rotor, of the generator was installed in early December after the stationary windings of the generator were replaced.

Brady Queen-Peden, project controls specialist with TVA, integrates the activities to complete the turbine generator and its auxiliary systems into the overall project schedule.

She says installation of the moisture separator reheaters is the next large task in the turbine building.

“The six reheaters are arriving by barge after shipment to Houston from Korea,” says Queen-Peden. “Moving the 137-ton reheaters from the river to the turbine floor requires careful planning, special equipment and an intense focus on safety at every step.”

TOP LEFT: Rigging International Ironworker Darrin Lecroy fabricates components of a temporary rail system that will be used to move the moisture separator reheaters, or MSRs, on the turbine deck floor.

TOP RIGHT: Robert Musick, Day & Zimmerman carpenter steward, assists with the installation of scaffolding on the turbine deck.

BOTTOM: Bechtel Engineering Manager Jim Robertson (left) and Watts Bar Unit 2 Engineering Manager Ed Freeman study the system turnover schedule.

6 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

Queen-Peden says special cranes will lift the reheaters from the barge. “We also have specialized equipment to move them from the dock to the turbine building. A temporary rail system will be used to move them into place on the turbine deck floor, which has been reinforced to hold the reheaters’ weight.”

As construction crews complete replacing and refurbishing equipment and components, systems will be placed in service individually for pre-operational testing and turnover to operations next year. n

Facts about Watts Bar Unit 2 • Will add more than 1,100 megawatts of reliable baseload generation when it comes online in 2012.

• Will be able to power about 650,000 homes without releasing greenhouse gases to the environment.

• Over its lifetime, the cost of the power Unit 2 produces will help TVA provide affordable energy for its customers.

• About 168 employees are in the training pipeline for operations, maintenance and other support organizations. In addition to the 500 employees in place, another 330 positions are expected to be filled.

TOP LEFT: Enoch Burt, a carpenter with Day & Zimmerman, installs scaffolding for a temporary tent over a set of moisture separator reheater pedestals on the turbine deck. The tent will help maintain environment and confine the laser used to obtain elevation measurements on the pedestals before milling.

TOP RIGHT: Rigging International Project Superintendent Danny Braswell (left) and Ironworker Steve Gibson oversee activities in preparation for load testing the gantry crane.

The crane will be used to off load the moisture separator reheaters from the barge.

BOTTOM LEFT AND RIGHT: Moisture separator reheaters are loaded onto barges for shipping to Watts Bar.

Watts Bar Unit 2 — 2010-2011 milestones • Engineering completion — early 2010 • Individual systems testing begins — first half of 2010 • Place turbine on turning gear — October 2010 • Primary system hydrostatic pressure testing — May 2011 • Ice condenser filling — July 2011 • Hot functional testing — August 2011

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 7

my job rocks

By Duncan Mansfield

TVA employees are on the job 24/7, keeping the lights on, running the river system, managing TVA lands and supporting TVA’s operations.

In this column, you’ll hear from TVA employees who can say, “My job rocks!”

J. Andrew Howe | energy market STRATEGIST, Commercial Operations & Pricing

A

ndrew Howe’s attraction to numbers is incalculable. They amuse him, challenge him and form the basis for the complicated algorithms he designs to help predict fuel prices and power requirements for TVA.

Photos by David Luttrell

“When I was in high school, I remember for some reason I thought it would be fun to calculate 2 to the 200th power by hand. So I filled up pages, just multiplying the previous line by 2,” Howe says. “To this day, I like to compute powers of 2 in my head. I can get into the hundreds of millions before I can’t keep track of all the digits.”

Howe, 35, is a statistical modeler, a quantitative analyst and the only statistician with a doctoral degree now working for TVA. He is an energy market strategist in Commercial Operations & Pricing in Chattanooga, which manages TVA’s $4 billion to $6 billion economic power portfolio.

“I deal with things like uncertainty in load forecasts that will eventually relate to how much power or gas or something we will have to buy,” he says. “I am not directly involved (in buying fuel or predicting prices). I help look at the uncertainty in the forecast.”

Howe applies his calculations to a variety of problems that ultimately impact your home electricity bill. How much power will TVA need in the future? When should TVA lock in fuel prices for that power? How will bumps in the economy and changes in customers’ electricity requirements affect the equation?

These are not new questions for TVA, but Howe may bring a more sophisticated approach to finding the answers.

Howe grew up in a small town in the southern California desert “two hours from anywhere,” he says. He went away to college, earned a bachelor’s degree in math and an MBA, and ended up crunching Wall Street data for a private investment firm in San Francisco. Through that work, he met a visiting University of Tennessee statistics professor, Hamparsum Bozdogan, who invited him to study the finer points of data analysis in Knoxville. Howe earned his master’s degree in statistics at UT in 2007 and two years later completed his Ph.D. In his spare time, he reads science books while listening to an eclectic music library – classical to Turkish. Howe also plays a bass trombone – most recently in a Knoxville swing band.

8 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

TOP: Statistical modeler Andrew Howe studies forecast uncertainty.

BOTTOM: From his home, Howe creates mathematically generated computer art for his personal Web page.

Howe also creates computer art for his personal Web page. Called fractal art, Howe says he finds it “fascinating that the, hopefully, aesthetically pleasing images are mathematically generated.”

He also has a girlfriend. She’s a statistician, too. What are the odds? n

retirees

Saved by giving When Bill Barmer decided to donate a pint of blood last fall, all he hoped to gain was a T-shirt.

Over the years, Barmer, 57, a semi-retired TVA procurement officer in Memphis, has donated 12 gallons of blood and blood platelets through Lifeblood, the Mid-South Regional Blood Center. He has always enjoyed collecting the different Lifeblood T-shirts. As a University of Memphis fan, he liked this season’s offering – a royal blue T-shirt with a teardropshaped basketball and the words “The New Blood” on the front, referring to Tigers’ basketball coach Josh Pastner and his new recruits.

But during the routine pre-donation exam, Barmer was alerted that he had high blood pressure. He went immediately to his doctor, who found Barmer had three arterial blockages of 60, 70 and 80 percent, respectively.

“We would have never known,” says Barmer’s wife, Margie. “I get really emotional talking about it. That shirt saved his life.” The couple, both lifelong Memphians, met in the seventh grade. Barmer began donating blood just after they were married 34 years ago.

Christopher Chaney

“Back then it was to protect yourself and your family by donating blood,” says Barmer. “If you needed some and you were part of a plan, you got the blood for free. They really like my blood because I’m a B negative.

The irony is the T-shirt reads ‘Be Positive’ on the back.”

Barmer was hospitalized and on Dec. 4, underwent a heart catheterization and received three stents. He will be on medication for at least a year and may be on a blood pressure regimen for the rest of his life.

“When I am cleared by my doctors, I intend to donate again.” n This story is based on excerpts from The Commercial Appeal.

new retirees 41 years

David B. Smith, Power System Operations, Chattanooga

37 years

Barry W. Arp, Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga Hope W. Fine, Fossil Power Group, Kingston

36 years

Brenda W. Collins, Human Resources, Knoxville Hal E. Irick, Environment & Technology, Knoxville

35 years

Michael W. Clements, Power Supply & Fuels, Chattanooga Lynn R. Edwards, Environment & Technology, Knoxville James F. Elliott, Information Services, Muscle Shoals Joseph A. Graziano, Environment & Technology, Chattanooga

34 years

Sanford D. Katine, Office of the General Counsel, Knoxville Terry S. Nash, Facilities Management, Chattanooga Betty S. Wolfe, Human Resources, Knoxville

33 years

Jeanne S. Kellogg, Nuclear Power Group, Chattanooga

32 years

Orlando C. Darby, Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga Glenn E. Davis, TVA Police, Grand Rivers Stanley A. Fletcher, Financial Services, Knoxville Terry G. Hendon, Fossil Power Group, Tuscumbia Max E. Hollins Jr., Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga David T. Nye, Fossil Power Group, Stevenson

Bobby H. Parish, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville Armalee G. Petty, Nuclear Power Group, Chattanooga Ramsey C. Quarles, Power System Operations, Estill Springs Freddie M. Starkey, Fossil Power Group, Tuscumbia Nora E. Tomisek, Supply Chain, Chattanooga

31 years

Ronny K. Lecroy, Nuclear Power Group, Decatur Clyde R. Smith, Fossil Power Group, Stevenson Neal S. Teruya, Information Services, Chattanooga Kenneth L. Tucker Jr., Nuclear Power Group, Soddy-Daisy Franklin Wood, Nuclear Power Group, Soddy-Daisy

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 9

retirees

new retirees continued 30 years

William P. Ayres, Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga M. Lynne Bartlett, Human Resources, Knoxville Daniel L. Brooks, Fossil Power Group, Rogersville W. Deming Gray, Human Resources, Chattanooga Glenda O. Killen, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville Mary L. Lethcoe, Human Resources, Knoxville Jack L. Paine, Information Services, Jackson Karen A. Walker, Human Resources, Soddy-Daisy

29 years

Lisa M. Beard, Environment & Technology, Knoxville C. Henry Copeland, Environment & Technology, Muscle Shoals Murray Ford Jr., Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville Mark A. Hoepker, Environment & Technology, Nashville Dennis E. Jenkins, Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga James R. Myers, Information Services, Knoxville Charles L. Smith Jr., Fossil Power Group, Louisville Michael D. Sparks, Fossil Power Group, Drakesboro Stanley J. Szalkiewicz, River Operations, Rutledge Carrol M. Waddle, Nuclear Power Group, Soddy-Daisy

28 years

Michael L. Childers, Power System Operations, Nashville Andrew L. Todd, Power System Operations, Nashville

27 years

Alicia Lewis Manning, Environment & Technology, Chattanooga William D. Orr, Fleet Engineering, Chattanooga Larry W. Reed, Fossil Power Group, Kingston

26 years

Helen J. Belyew, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville

25 years

James A. Jones, Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga Kenneth N. Paseur, Supply Chain, Decatur

24 years

Gary L. Howard, River Operations, Muscle Shoals Gerald W. Jones, Information Services, Chattanooga Clerlinda N. Mynatt, Communications, Knoxville

23 years

James E. Carver, TVA Police, Knoxville Sam A. Dias, Nuclear Power Group, Decatur Danny R. Lowe, Fossil Power Group, Cumberland City Bradford L. Perdue, River Operations, Chattanooga Charles R. Taylor, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville

22 years

Michael D. Goodwin, Nuclear Power Group, Soddy-Daisy Yvonne R. Hosler, Fossil Power Group, Chattanooga James D. Rea, Power System Operations, Tupelo John F. Tortora Jr., Nuclear Power Group, Spring City Gary E. Turner, Fossil Power Group, Stevenson

21 years

Alan B. Campbell, Customer Resources, Jackson

20 years

Daniel H. Brinker, Fossil Power Group, West Paducah Billy R. Gibbons, Power System Operations, Covington Freda B. Kirk, Customer Resources, Knoxville

19 years

Kenny R. Lowery, Clean Strategies & Project Development, Muscle Shoals James B. Morrison, Power System Operations, Chattanooga Robert R. Rausch, Nuclear Generation, Development & Construction, Chattanooga Grover C. Simpson Jr., Fossil Power Group, Memphis

18 years

Vernon R. Biggs, Power System Operations, Clarksville Bobby C. Carter, Fossil Power Group, Muscle Shoals Ray P. Cason, Fossil Power Group, Cumberland City Samuel R. Harden, Power System Operations, Chattanooga Tom Leatherwood, Facilities Management, Spring City John L. Pierce, Fossil Power Group, Stevenson James L. Smith, Power System Operations, Bellevue Harold R. Stainton, Supply Chain, Chattanooga Thomas E. Stewart, Power System Operations, Chattanooga

17 years

Arthur J. Carnes, Nuclear Power Group, Decatur Ronnie S. Carter, Fossil Power Group, Muscle Shoals Ronald D. Hill, Facilities Management, Grand Rivers Hubert M. Meredith, Fossil Power Group, Drakesboro Joel C. Scott, Fossil Power Group, Tuscumbia Kenneth H. Sims, Power System Operations, Corinth

16 years

Donald W. Crabtree, Fossil Power Group, Tuscumbia Richard Thomas Harris, Nuclear Power Group, Soddy-Daisy Carolyn E. Lindsey, Power System Operations, Cullman Larry E. Shelton, Environment & Technology, Knoxville Stephen Varnell Smith, Information Services, Chattanooga

15 years

Larry F. Baity, Fossil Power Group, West Paducah George V. Potter, Fossil Power Group, Cumberland City

13 years

Michael E. Bloodworth, Nuclear Power Group, Decatur Howard D. Crabtree, Fossil Power Group, Watts Bar Dam

12 years

James Loyd Davis, Fossil Power Group, Watts Bar Dam David E. Lyons, Facilities Management, Clinton

8 years

Leonard D. Stinnett, Fossil Power Group, West Paducah

Make

medicine

work for you

By Kelly Lawson

Ever notice warnings such as “alcohol may intensify the effects of this drug” printed on a prescription-drug bottle? Pharmacists include the warnings to make you aware that a drug’s effect can be blocked or enhanced by other substances, which could worsen a condition, compromise the drug’s effectiveness or change potential side effects.

Too much of a good thing Over-the-counter medications, supplements and other prescription drugs may react with a prescribed drug. For instance, the over-the-counter antihistamine medicine you take to relieve your allergy symptoms may increase your heart rate and blood pressure if taken with blood pressure medication. Or, an antibiotic may make birth control pills less effective, which may result in pregnancy.

Foods and beverages also can interfere with a prescribed drug. For example, patients taking Coumadin*, a blood-thinning medication, need to keep their vitamin K intake steady, because excessive amounts of vitamin K can change the way Coumadin works.

What you can do

Even grapefruit juice can alter the effects of at least 50 medications. The juice can keep medicine from breaking down properly in your body, resulting in too much or too little medicine in your blood.

• Always carefully read all drug labels and

patient information sheets.

• Know the warnings of all the drugs you take.

What’s being done for you

• Keep medicines in their original containers so you can identify them.

Two companies that administer components of TVA’s medical plan provide services to assist you concerning drug interactions and patient safety.

• Ask your doctor or pharmacist what you need to avoid when you are prescribed a new medication and the signs of a drug interaction.

• Keep a record of all drugs and dietary supplements (including herbs) that you take and discuss it at your medical appointment. An easy way to do this is through your Personal Health Record at www.MyActiveHealth.com/tva, ActiveHealth’s Web site. It is available to employees and non-Medicare retirees who are members of a TVA medical plan.

You can update your record at any time and print it to share with your healthcare providers. *Coumadin is the brand name of the medication warfarin.

Sources: Medco; webmd.com 10 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

Medco Health administers TVA’s prescription-drug program. When you purchase a prescription drug at your local pharmacy or through mail-order, Medco performs a drug-utilization review based on the drug you are purchasing and your claim history. Based on a real-time evaluation of a prescription using clinical rules for comparison to evidence-based, best medical practices, Medco’s system issues an electronic message to your retail or mail-order pharmacist of any adverse drug interactions, drug-to-disease interactions, potentials for allergic reaction and more.

Alerts can range from interactions you need to be made aware of to those that will help you avoid a serious safety issue. Your pharmacist will provide counsel to you and, if necessary, contact your physician.

ActiveHealth administers various health-support programs as part of TVA’s medical plan. For instance, using evidence-based medicine sources, ActiveHealth sends alerts called “Care Considerations” to members or physicians if it identifies an issue such as a high severity drug-to-drug or drug-to-condition interaction. If there is an immediate potential of harm, ActiveHealth contacts the physician’s office on behalf of a TVA member to inform the doctor of the interaction. n

Employee receives Bronze Star

new employee Monica Kalal

Air Force Lt. Col. Tommy James has received the Bronze Star medal for meritorious achievement. James, a manager in Information Services’ information technology southwest region in Alabama, has returned to work after being deployed in Afghanistan.

James earned the Bronze Star for “meritorious achievement as Deputy Commander, 455th Expeditionary Mission Support Group, 455th Air Expeditionary wing, while engaged in ground operations against the enemy at Bagram Airfield” in Afghanistan.

In addition to the Bronze Star, James has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for “exceptional meritorious and distinguished military service to the state of Alabama.”

people, plaudits, and promotions The Chattanooga Area Engineers Week Committee has named Larry Akens the Jo Conn Guild Engineer of the Year. Akens is manager of compliance & emergency preparedness for TVA’s Transmission & Reliability Organization and is a professional engineer. This award is given annually to a local professional engineer who has made outstanding contributions to his or her profession or to public welfare and humanity. As part of Larry Akens his TVA responsibilities, Akens has worked with the nonprofit SERC Reliability Corp. and the North American Electric Reliability Corp., contributing to and interpreting reliability standards.

David Luttrell

“The exemplary leadership, personal endeavor and devotion to duty displayed

by Col. James in this responsible position reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force,” the citation reads.

Monica Kalal learned TVA was hiring from her uncle, Dan Stout, who is a TVA employee based in Washington, D.C. “I researched TVA and explored career opportunities through its Web site,” she says. “I decided to apply for a nuclear design engineer job opening.”

Kalal was hired in January into the Nuclear Power Group’s engineering department.

“I will be looking into possible accidents that may occur in the plant and provide an analysis of potential results and preventive measures. I love coming to work and learning new things about the probabilistic risk assessment process and about the nuclear-power world. It is so new and different that I learn something different every day.”

Kalal is a recent graduate from the University of Cincinnati, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.

“I grew up in Westlake, Ohio, but I am very excited to have moved to an area where there is less snow in the winter.”

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 11

new employees January new employees Robert Joseph Adams, Knoxville, Financial Services David Michael Aday, Decatur, Nuclear Power Group Jay T. Allen, Spring City, NPG Stuart Wesley Balliew, Chattanooga, Power System Operations Kevin M. Bartenfield, Chattanooga, Supply Chain Kevin Lee Belue, Decatur, NPG Marcia Wright Black, Chattanooga, Fossil Power Group Judy Darlene Bolin, Spring City, NPG Michael Keith Bradley, Knoxville, Communications Tommy Hugh Bragwell, Muscle Shoals, FPG Travis Scott Brickey, Knoxville, Communications Scott Brooks, Knoxville, Communications Robert Lance Brown, Muscle Shoals, SC Frank Caramante, Spring City, NPG Jonathan Harold Carlton, Soddy-Daisy, Operations Oversight & Performance Improvement Solomon Wayne Clair, Clinton, FPG David Angelo Codevilla, Knoxville, Office of General Counsel Jody Cox, Chattanooga, Human Resources James Mike Crabb, Muscle Shoals, SC Seth Tyler Daniels, Knoxville, FS Kevin Gary Davis, Muscle Shoals, SC Elizabeth Anne Doucette, Decatur, NPG Larry Freeman, Spring City, SC Michael Bradley Fussell, Knoxville, FS Keith James Ginel, Nashville, FS Steven B. Gladson, Dandridge, Facilities Management Jonathan David Gore, Chattanooga, NPG William Paul Gouge, Spring City, NPG Tommy Rex Hairston, Huntsville, FM Linda B. Hall, Spring City, NPG Mary Elizabeth Hallam, Chattanooga, Benjamin Thomas Hardy, Decatur, NPG Eric D. Harmon, Chattanooga, FS Evan Gustave Hauser, Chattanooga, Power Supply & Fuels Cecil L. Haynes, Muscle Shoals, FPG Terry R. Hixon, Chattanooga, Information Services James Merritt Hobbs, Decatur, NPG Nathan Davis Holland, Chattanooga, FPG Russell Stuart Holt, Knoxville, IS John Alan Hoyle, Knoxville, FS Aquila T. Hughley, Chattanooga, NPG William Andrew Jeffers, Spring City, NPG James Scott Johnson, Spring City, NPG Monica Kalal, Chattanooga, NPG David Clarence Kennedy, Hartsville, SC Kevin Lee Kuykendall, Decatur, HR Ronald Edward Larsen, Decatur, NPG Johneece Gibson Lewis, Spring City, NPG Antonio R. Lopez, Spring City, NPG Thomas Michael Maddox, Hartsville, SC John Timothy McCarthy, Spring City, NPG Guy Anthony McGuckin, Spring City, NPG Joseph D. McSpadden, Spring City, NPG Anthony Wade Melton, Decatur, NPG Joshua Owen Miles, Decatur, NPG Jenika R. Mincey, Chattanooga, SC Kenneth Dewayne Mize, Spring City, NPG Lonnie Ray Moffett, Chattanooga, SC Charles Lebron Mullins, Spring City, NPG Martha Kaye Murphey, Cumberland City, FPG Joshua David Murphy, Chattanooga, PS&F Christopher Charles Niblock, Chattanooga, SC Zachary L. Patterson, Chattanooga, Nuclear Generation

Development & Construction Barbara Ann Perdue, Chattanooga, Yan E. Petchatnikov, Chattanooga, PS&F Dara Johanna Phillips, Knoxville, River Operations Shawn Lee Powers, Knoxville, HR Anthony Allen Pugh, Knoxville, SC Marion A. Rankin, Soddy-Daisy, NPG Johnnie Mae Ratliff, Knoxville, IS Douglas A. Risner, Tuscumbia, FPG Evan Graham Roach, Knoxville, FS Frederick Alex Rone, Knoxville, FS Kari Deanne Rudolph, Chattanooga, HR James Garald Shilling, Spring City, NPG Michael Jason Shipp, Chattanooga, FPG Kimberly Dawn Sissom, Chattanooga, NPG James Trevor Smith, Muscle Shoals, SC Jeffrey Lynn Smith, Soddy-Daisy, NPG Rachel Carey Smith, Chattanooga, PSO John Daniel Snyder, Chattanooga, PS&F Karen Ashley Spain, Knoxville, FS James Jeffery Spears, Muscle Shoals, SC Jacob Alan Stanford, Chattanooga, Office of Inspector General John Travis Staten, Chattanooga, FS Monica G. Stevens, Chattanooga, HR Duane Keith Summerville, Mount Juliet, PSO Paul Bryan Tackett, Spring City, NPG Jonathan D. Wallace, Knoxville, IS Gregory Edward Wesson, Chattanooga, FS Spencer D. Whittier, Chattanooga, Office of Environment & Research James Linton Wilson, Spring City, NPG Tyler Clayton Wolfford, Chattanooga, NPG Daniel Leonard Wulsch, Decatur, NPG Stephanie N. York, Spring City, NPG Lee Ellen Young, Chattanooga, NGD&C

InsideTVA

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

Tennessee Valley Authority 400 West Summit Hill Drive Knoxville, TN 37902

Measuring TVA’s environmental footprint

Water-resource protection and improvement, climatechange mitigation, air-quality improvement, and compliance and financial impacts are among the seven categories with related measures on the report card, now available on InsideNet.

The TVA Environmental Report Card is available to employees through the Environment & Technology homepage at http://insidenet.tva.gov/org/oer/env_report_card/index.htm .

Cletus Mitchell

River Forecast Center Manager Susan Jacks experiences the benefits of TVA’s new Environmental Report Card every day.

“I can easily see how TVA is doing as environmental stewards of the Tennessee River system and the Tennessee Valley,” she says. “The Web site is interactive so users can view a high-level summary or drill down into a topic to get more detailed information and clarification.”

Susan Jacks, manager, River Forecast Center

“Environment & Technology Business Operations’ Janet Barnett, Laura Duncan and David Maclellan developed the tool, with guidance from Performance Analysis & Productivity’s Scott Rice,” says Neelanjan Patri, Environment & Technology business operations general manager.

“Information Services’ Linda Lord, along with other strategic business units and Environment & Technology business units, provide technical and data support.” n