Entergy Nuclear announces leadership moves
Entergy Corporation has announced senior leadership moves that it said support the fleet's succession plans and reinforce its bench strength for its nuclear operations, based in Jackson, Miss.
The moves: As of January, the following moves have been made:
Dinelli
John Dinelli, currently the Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) site vice president, is assuming the role of vice president ofnuclear independent oversight for Entergy Nuclear, reporting to chief nuclear officer Chris Bakken.Since joining Entergy, Dinelli has held several senior leadership positions, including site vice president at the Waterford-3 nuclear power plant. He has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear industry and started with the company at the Indian Point Energy Center as a college intern and then was hired as a shift technical advisor in operations.
In 1996, he received his senior reactor operator’s license and held several roles in the operations department, and then moved to general plant manager. Dinelli has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Manhattan College.
Sullivan
ANO general plant manager Joe Sullivan has been promoted to site vice president, reporting to Entergy Nuclear chief operating officer Kimberly Cook.
Sullivan, ANS member since 2014, has held senior leadership roles, including general manager for fleet operations at Echelon and general manager for plant operations, at the Cooper nuclear power plant.
Prior to coming to Entergy, Sullivan served in various positions of increasing responsibility at three nuclear sites in the Northeast. He was also a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license examiner and inspector in Region 1 and was an on-shift senior reactor operator at the Calvert Cliffs and Salem nuclear power plants. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Pehrson
Doug Pehrson, currently the senior manager of maintenance at ANO, has been promoted to general manager of plant operations, reporting to Sullivan.
As ANO's senior manager of maintenance, Pehrson is responsible for overall site maintenance activities for Units 1 and 2. Prior to this role, he served as senior operations manager.
Pehrson has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear industry and is a non-licensed operator at ANO. Throughout his career, Pehrson has held several positions in operations, including reactor operator, shift technical advisor, control room supervisor, shift manager, and Unit 1 operations shift manager.
In 2017, he assumed a rotational assignment at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, where he functioned as a senior plant evaluator in operations. Pehrson, who served in the U.S. Navy, holds a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering technology from Thomas Edison State University and a master of business administration from Louisiana State University.
"These moves are important parts of our senior leadership development strategies," Bakken said. "I am pleased that we have capable leaders in-house who can lead, inspire, earn results, and guide us to premier utility performance. Congratulations to these nuclear professionals."
Hahn
Another move: In another senior leadership move, current senior vice president of engineering and technical services John Elnitsky announced his intention to retire in May 2022. With that decision, current nuclear independent oversight vice president David Hahn is assuming a role reporting to Elnitsky to begin their transition. Hahn will assume the senior vice president assignment in early 2022.
Before joining Entergy, Rear Adm. Hahn retired from the U.S. Navy after a distinguished 35-year career. He served as chief of Naval Research in Washington, D.C., and held numerous assignments in the Navy, including commanding officer of the USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) and executive officer of the USS Springfield (SSN 761). He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from George Mason University.
