2022 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo Speaker
Steven D. Capps
Senior Vice President
Nuclear Operations – South Carolina
Duke Energy
As senior vice president of nuclear operations for Duke Energy, Steven Capps provides oversight for the safe and reliable operation of the company’s nuclear plants in South Carolina. He assumed lead responsibilities for the Catawba, Oconee and Robinson plants in October 2018.
Previously, Capps served as senior vice president of nuclear corporate for Duke Energy. In this role, he had responsibility for Duke Energy’s nuclear corporate functions, including nuclear corporate engineering, nuclear major projects, corporate governance and operation support and organizational effectiveness.
Prior to that, Capps served as site vice president of the McGuire Nuclear Station for five years. He was responsible for the safe and efficient operation of McGuire, a two-unit, pressurized water-reactor nuclear generating facility in Huntersville, N.C. He directed station and facilities management, operations, maintenance, chemistry and radiation protection, engineering, nuclear and industrial safety and business operations.
Capps has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear field. He joined the company in 1987 as a field engineer at Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca, S.C. During his time at Oconee, Capps served in a variety of leadership roles at the plant, including senior reactor operator, shift technical advisor, and mechanical and civil engineering manager. In 2008, Capps transitioned to McGuire as the engineering manager. He later became plant manager and was named site vice president of McGuire in 2012.
The Westminster, S.C., native graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. Capps has completed the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations’ (INPO) senior nuclear plant management course and earned a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Senior Reactor Operator License for Oconee Nuclear Station.
Capps and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons and a daughter.
Duke Energy, one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States, supplies and delivers electric services to approximately 7.9 million customers in the Southeast and Midwest. The company also distributes natural gas services to approximately 1.6 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its commercial business operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 150 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK.