Nuclear Plant Journal, July-August 2015 NuclearPlantJournal.com
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Investing in the youth throughout the community is vital to the present and
future of Waterford 3.
of Dimes and a number of educational
programs such as Hahnville High School
Engineering and Robotics club and
biology & environmental science groups.
With a devoted group of employees,
W3 is able to volunteer time to support
educational events known throughout the
community such as STEM NOLA and
Wetland Watchers.
One of W3’s largest charitable
actions is supporting St. Charles Parish
United Way. With the help of corporate
match, W3 raised nearly $160,000
for United Way and other non-profit
organizations in the area. Educating
employees about local organizations and
ways they can personally reach out is a
benefit to strengthening our team and
footprint in the community.
With the upgrade of our emergency
sirens, W3 is also able to support the
community during natural weather
events. The 37 sirens in St. Charles
Parish, owned by W3, are not only used
for nuclear alerts, they are also utilized by
the parish emergency operations center
to alert residents of any pending natural
events that could be life threatening. This
partnership and joint use of the sirens
allows W3 to help keep the surrounding
community safe.
“We are proud to have hosted W3
in St. Charles Parish for this long. Their
partnership with parish government
enables us to protect our residents by
using their outdoor warning sirens
during emergencies and they help to
fund initiatives such as our community-
wide cleanup, Trash Bash. Additionally,
W3 maintains a strong focus on safety
by conducting an extensive biennial drill
that brings together parish responders and
agencies for the safety of our residents.”
- V. J. St. Pierre Jr., St. Charles Parish
President.
The Power of People
The Power of People is more than
a slogan – our people drive us to
excellence in operations.
One thing separates W3 from other
industrial plants in the area: W3 has had
many local employees who have stayed
with the company since construction.
Not only is a number of the workforce
local and long standing, the employees at
W3 are dedicated and invested in safely
operating the plant on a daily basis. The
rigor and personal commitments they
have made to the company is a key factor
in the past and future success of the site.
One example of employee dedication
is Dan Guidry. His first interaction with
W3 was as a Louisiana Light and Power
employee when he was only 21. Prior
to W3, Guidry assisted in calibrating
equipment for Waterford 1 & 2, both gas
and oil units located on W3 plantation
property a short distance from W3. Upon
retirement after 41 years with Entergy,
Guidry stated that the thing he would
miss the most about work is the people.
Louisiana is known for its history, culture
and tradition, but one thing those not
from Louisiana might not be familiar
with is the people of the state. Friendly,
welcoming and easygoing, it isn’t
difficult to call those you work with on
a daily basis family. Guidry, who retired
in the first quarter of 2015, left W3 with
a similar sentiment regarding the nuclear
power industry.
“There are a lot of unsung heroes
that do their job every day and they are
never recognized because a lot of people
just don’t know what they do, or don’t
understand what they do. They aren’t in
the limelight, but boy, if they weren’t here
Waterford 3 employees celebrate those affected by cancer at the St. Charles
Parish Relay for Life.
