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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2014
down the cross functional barriers that
were keeping us from doing the right
work at the right time, which in turn
prevented us from catching unanticipated
issues and reducing our backlogs.
To communicate the needed change,
River Bend demonstrated organizational
alignment through a simple pyramid. It
was called Back2Basics. Plant workers
focused on four behaviors:
•
Commit to do it right.
•
Do not walk away from a challenge.
•
Accept feedback.
•
Act as a team.
Three additional behaviors championed
by the River Bend Station leadership team
also were key in changing performance:
•
Organizational Risk Management and the
understanding that Risk is proportional
to the product of Consequence and
Probability minus the Mitigating strategy.
•
Leadership Oversight through intrusive
ownership of their functional area.
•
Execution Rigor through trust and
teamwork.
We tied these behaviors to the
following value statement: What is the
right thing for River Bend? This simple
value statement ensured our decision-
making focused on the station’s needs, not
on budget or how hard the right actions
might be. This made a step-change in
the effectiveness of our corrective action
process.
The station thendevelopedadecision-
making procedure based on consequence
and probability. Training emphasized the
understanding and mitigating strategy of
both active and passive risk. The site then
added team building skills.
River Bend’s senior leadership team
also focused on effectively holding an
organization accountable for results. The
leadership team collectively reviewed
a case study written by Super Bowl
winning NFL coach Bill Parcells for
the Harvard Business Review titled
“Teamwork through Accountability.”
Station leadership also embraced “The
Oz Principle” to engrain a culture of
execution throughout the plant. The Oz
Principle posits that a personal choice is
required to rise above one’s circumstances
and demonstrate the ownership necessary
for achieving desired results – to See It,
Own It, Solve It and Do It. More team
building was conducted with the senior
leadership team to enhance teamwork.
The moral of the story is that a simple
Greek equation E(µ
ΙΡ
,
χ
) =
ΣχεχΡ
(X)µ(X)
from 1738, which can make a difference
in today’s world, especially when you
have an outstanding work force, focused
on excellence.
About Entergy Nuclear’s River
Bend Station:
In June of 1986, River
Bend Nuclear Station in St. Francisville,
La. became the second nuclear power
plant to produce electricity in Louisiana.
June 2011 marked River Bend’s next
milestone as it celebrated 25 years of safe
and reliable operation.
River Bend Station received a power
upgrade of approximately 52 megawatts
in 2003 and now generates 974 megawatts
of electricity. River Bend’s output meets
approximately 10 percent of the total
energy demand of Louisiana.
At River Bend, it has always
been a goal to continuously serve the
community in which the plant operates.
Through grants from Entergy, River Bend
has been able to promote tourism, after-
school development, drug and alcohol
awareness and recreational opportunities
in St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish
and East Feliciana Parish. River Bend
employees maintain a strong presence
within the community by giving of
their personal time through volunteer
efforts as well as educating the public
on the benefits of nuclear energy. These
opportunities range from elementary
school visits and presentations to state
university tours, Baton Rouge Earth
Day, Girl Scout and Boy Scout Nuclear
Science Days, St. Francisville Summer
Fest and National Nuclear Science Week.
About Entergy:
Entergy Corporation
is an int
pany engaged
primarily in electric power production
and retail distribution operations. Entergy
owns and operates power plants with
approximately 30,000 megawatts of
electric generating capacity, including
more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear
power, making it one of the nation’s
leading nuclear generators. Entergy
delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility
customers in Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has
annual revenues of more than $11 billion
and approximately 14,000 employees.
With more than 6,000 nuclear
employees, Entergy today is recognized as
a global leader among nuclear companies.
Entergy Nuclear owns, operates, supports
and provides management services
to a national fleet of 12 reactors in 10
locations in the United States.
Contact: Mike Bowling, Entergy Nuclear,
1340 Echelon Parkway, Jackson, Mississippi
39213; telephone: (601) 368-5650, email:
or Mary Broussard,
Entergy River Bend Nuclear Station, St.
Francisville, Louisiana 70775; telephone: (225)
635-5038, email:
.
Entergy’s VP Eric Olson hosts LSU students
Back2Basics..
