InsideTVAa monthly publication of the Tennessee Valley Authority

Volume 30, Issue 3March 2010

pages 6-7TVA’s BrAdy Queen-Peden And siemens’ JAmes “Pic” mcclAin

page 10

my job rocksJ . A n d r e w H o w e

page 8

N u c l e a r p o w e r

alive and well

Make medicine work for you

In this issueMarch 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

Correspondents

addItIonal InformatIon

Editor – La’Nita JonesProduction Editor – Nancy Cann

Art Director – Kym Morrison StonePhoto Editor – Cletus Mitchell

NuClEAr PlANTSBellefonte – Susan GentleBrowns Ferry – Jason HuffineSequoyah and Watts Bar – Kay Whittenburg

FOSSIl PlANTSAllen – Josephine Moore and Angela SimpsonBull Run – Mary NolanColbert – Sharon JohnsonCumberland – Sandra ParchmanGallatin – Kriste LaniusJohn Sevier – Norma CatoJohnsonville – Stefanie MooreKingston – Beth Jackson Paradise – Janet TingleyShawnee – Debby Abell

Widows Creek – Debbie Crabtree

POWEr SErVICE SHOPSTeressa Williams

rIVEr OPErATIONS and ENVIrONMENT & TECHNOlOgYBarbara Martocci

NuClEAr gENErATION, DEVElOPMENT & CONSTruCTION Terry Johnson

FOSSIl gENErATION Jessica Stone

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, regard-less 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 post-consumer recycled paper.

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 .

Suggestions for articles can be sent to the following correspondents

hot topics

on the cover

EnergyRight® SolutionsThe 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 efficiencyTwenty-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.

“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.”

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.

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.

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 3

Since 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 moni-toring 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 waste-water 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

Charlie McEntyre T V A E N G I N E E R o F T H E Y E A R

By BROOks ClaRk

PhoTo BY DAVID LuTTReLL

4 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

ACROSS TVA

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.

displaying historyFrom 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.

‘Fraud’ poster wins Addy awardsa 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. 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.”

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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 Port-au-Prince where he stayed with a volunteer group organized by sCORE International.

The high point was reuniting with his 34-year-old 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 Jean-Marie’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.

tVa engineer finds hope, brother in HaitiBy DUNCaN MaNsFIElD

Georges Charles with his brother Jean-Marie

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 5

The updated program reduces the num-ber 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’ per-formance on more specific measures for spending, reliability, safety and reportable environmental events.

Payouts for employees without organization-specific 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 thresh-old 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 Perfor-mance updates will be reported in TVA Today and posted on the Winning Perfor-mance Web site http://insidenet.tva.gov/winningperformance/ . n

More on the corporate measuresNet 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.

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

Focusing on the three RsThe Winning Performance measures focus on the factors Chief executive officer Tom Kilgore uses to measure TVA’s overall performance: rates, reliability and responsibility:

RatesLive within TVA’s means •

Keep rates as low as •feasible

Reliability Improve plant reliability •and efficiency

Maintain transmission •system reliability

Responsibilityenvironment: • 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.

WINNING PERFoRMANCE 2010

rates | reliability | responsibilityBy 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.

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%

6 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

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.”

N u c l e a r p o w e r

alive and wellWork 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.

By TERRy JOHNsON

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.

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 7

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• Willaddmorethan1,100megawattsofreliablebaseloadgeneration

whenitcomesonlinein2012.

• Willbeabletopowerabout650,000homeswithoutreleasinggreenhousegases to the environment.

• Overitslifetime,thecostofthepowerUnit2produceswillhelpTVAprovide affordable energy for its customers.

• About168employeesareinthetrainingpipelineforoperations,maintenanceandothersupportorganizations.Inadditiontothe500employeesinplace,another330positionsareexpectedtobefilled.

WattsBarUnit2—2010-2011milestones• Engineeringcompletion—early2010

• Individualsystemstestingbegins—firsthalfof2010

• Placeturbineonturninggear—October2010

• Primarysystemhydrostaticpressuretesting—May2011

• Icecondenserfilling—July2011

• Hotfunctionaltesting—August2011

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.

8 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

J. AndREw HowE | ENERGy MaRkET sTRaTEGIsT, COMMERCIal OPERaTIONs & PRICING

my job rocksBy 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!”

Andrew 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.

“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 & Pric-ing 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 even-tually 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 pre-dicting prices). I help look at the uncertainty in the forecast.”

Howe applies his calculations to a variety of problems that ulti-mately 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 cus-tomers’ 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 Ten-nessee 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.

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

ToP: statistical modeler Andrew Howe studies forecast uncertainty.

BoTTom: From his home, Howe creates mathematically generated computer art for his personal web page.

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Inside TVA | March 2010 | 9

new retirees41 years David B. smith, Power system Operations, Chattanooga

37 years Barry W. arp, Fossil Power Group, Chattanoogahope W. Fine, Fossil Power Group, kingston

36 yearsBrenda W. collins, Human Resources, knoxvillehal e. irick, Environment & Technology, knoxville

35 yearsMichael W. clements, Power supply & Fuels, ChattanoogaLynn r. edwards, Environment & Technology, knoxvilleJames F. elliott, Information services, Muscle shoalsJoseph a. Graziano, Environment & Technology, Chattanooga

34 yearssanford D. Katine, Office of the General Counsel, knoxvilleterry s. nash, Facilities Management, ChattanoogaBetty s. Wolfe, Human Resources, knoxville

33 yearsJeanne s. Kellogg, Nuclear Power Group, Chattanooga

32 yearsorlando c. Darby, Fossil Power Group, ChattanoogaGlenn e. Davis, TVa Police, Grand Riversstanley a. Fletcher, Financial services, knoxvilleterry G. hendon, Fossil Power Group, TuscumbiaMax e. hollins Jr., Fossil Power Group, ChattanoogaDavid t. nye, Fossil Power Group, stevenson

Bobby h. parish, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonvillearmalee G. petty, Nuclear Power Group, Chattanoogaramsey c. Quarles, Power system Operations, Estill springsFreddie M. starkey, Fossil Power Group, Tuscumbianora e. tomisek, supply Chain, Chattanooga

31 years ronny K. Lecroy, Nuclear Power Group, Decaturclyde r. smith, Fossil Power Group, stevensonneal s. teruya, Information services, ChattanoogaKenneth L. tucker Jr., Nuclear Power Group, soddy-DaisyFranklin Wood, Nuclear Power Group, soddy-Daisy

ReTIReeS

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 teardrop-shaped 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.

“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.

Saved by giving

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30 years William p. ayres, Fossil Power Group, ChattanoogaM. Lynne Bartlett, Human Resources, knoxvilleDaniel L. Brooks, Fossil Power Group, RogersvilleW. Deming Gray, Human Resources, ChattanoogaGlenda o. Killen, Fossil Power Group, New JohnsonvilleMary L. Lethcoe, Human Resources, knoxvilleJack L. paine, Information services, JacksonKaren a. Walker, Human Resources, soddy-Daisy

29 years Lisa M. Beard, Environment & Technology, knoxvillec. henry copeland, Environment & Technology, Muscle shoalsMurray Ford Jr., Fossil Power Group, New JohnsonvilleMark a. hoepker, Environment & Technology, NashvilleDennis e. Jenkins, Fossil Power Group, ChattanoogaJames r. Myers, Information services, knoxvillecharles L. smith Jr., Fossil Power Group, louisvilleMichael D. sparks, Fossil Power Group, Drakesborostanley J. szalkiewicz, River Operations, Rutledgecarrol M. Waddle, Nuclear Power Group, soddy-Daisy

28 years Michael L. childers, Power system Operations, Nashvilleandrew L. todd, Power system Operations, Nashville

27 years alicia Lewis Manning, Environment & Technology, ChattanoogaWilliam D. orr, Fleet Engineering, ChattanoogaLarry W. reed, Fossil Power Group, kingston

26 years helen J. Belyew, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville

25 years James a. Jones, Fossil Power Group, ChattanoogaKenneth n. paseur, supply Chain, Decatur

24 years Gary L. howard, River Operations, Muscle shoalsGerald W. Jones, Information services, Chattanoogaclerlinda n. Mynatt, Communications, knoxville

23 years James e. carver, TVa Police, knoxvillesam a. Dias, Nuclear Power Group, DecaturDanny r. Lowe, Fossil Power Group, Cumberland CityBradford L. perdue, River Operations, Chattanoogacharles r. taylor, Fossil Power Group, New Johnsonville

22 years Michael D. Goodwin, Nuclear Power Group, soddy-Daisyyvonne r. hosler, Fossil Power Group, ChattanoogaJames D. rea, Power system Operations, TupeloJohn F. tortora Jr., Nuclear Power Group, spring CityGary e. turner, Fossil Power Group, stevenson

21 years alan B. campbell, Customer Resources, Jackson

20 years Daniel h. Brinker, Fossil Power Group, West PaducahBilly r. Gibbons, Power system Operations, CovingtonFreda B. Kirk, Customer Resources, knoxville

19 years Kenny r. Lowery, Clean strategies & Project Development, Muscle shoalsJames B. Morrison, Power system Operations, Chattanoogarobert r. rausch, Nuclear Generation, Development & Construction, ChattanoogaGrover c. simpson Jr., Fossil Power Group, Memphis

18 years vernon r. Biggs, Power system Operations, ClarksvilleBobby c. carter, Fossil Power Group, Muscle shoalsray p. cason, Fossil Power Group, Cumberland Citysamuel r. harden, Power system Operations, Chattanoogatom Leatherwood, Facilities Management, spring CityJohn L. pierce, Fossil Power Group, stevensonJames L. smith, Power system Operations, Bellevueharold r. stainton, supply Chain, Chattanoogathomas e. stewart, Power system Operations, Chattanooga

17 years arthur J. carnes, Nuclear Power Group, Decaturronnie s. carter, Fossil Power Group, Muscle shoalsronald D. hill, Facilities Management, Grand Rivershubert M. Meredith, Fossil Power Group, DrakesboroJoel c. scott, Fossil Power Group, TuscumbiaKenneth h. sims, Power system Operations, Corinth

16 years Donald W. crabtree, Fossil Power Group, Tuscumbiarichard thomas harris, Nuclear Power Group, soddy-Daisycarolyn e. Lindsey, Power system Operations, CullmanLarry e. shelton, Environment & Technology, knoxvillestephen varnell smith, Information services, Chattanooga

15 years Larry F. Baity, Fossil Power Group, West PaducahGeorge v. potter, Fossil Power Group, Cumberland City

13 years Michael e. Bloodworth, Nuclear Power Group, Decaturhoward D. crabtree, Fossil Power Group, Watts Bar Dam

12 years James Loyd Davis, Fossil Power Group, Watts Bar DamDavid e. Lyons, Facilities Management, Clinton

8 years Leonard D. stinnett, Fossil Power Group, West Paducah

new retirees continued

ReTIReeS

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 thingover-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.

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.

what’s being done for youTwo companies that administer components of TVA’s medical plan provide services to assist you concerning drug interactions and patient safety.

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 medi-cal 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

10 | March 2010 | Inside TVA

what you caN do

• Always carefully read all drug labels and patient information sheets.

• Know the warnings of all the drugs you take.

• Keepmedicinesintheiroriginalcontainersso you can identify them.

• Askyourdoctororpharmacistwhatyouneed to avoid when you are prescribed a new medication and the signs of a drug interaction.

• Keeparecordofalldrugsanddietarysupplements (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

Make medicine work for you

By kElly laWsON

Inside TVA | March 2010 | 11

new eMployee

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 his TVA responsibilities, Akens has worked with the non-profit SeRC Reliability Corp. and the North American electric Reliability Corp., contributing to and interpreting reliability standards.

people, plaudits, and promotions

Larry Akens

monica Kalal

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.”

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.

“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.

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.”

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Employee receives Bronze StarAir 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.

new eMployees

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January new employees

robert Joseph adams, knoxville, Financial servicesDavid Michael aday, Decatur, Nuclear Power GroupJay t. allen, spring City, NPGstuart Wesley Balliew, Chattanooga, Power system Opera-tionsKevin M. Bartenfield, Chattanooga, supply ChainKevin Lee Belue, Decatur, NPGMarcia Wright Black, Chattanooga, Fossil Power GroupJudy Darlene Bolin, spring City, NPGMichael Keith Bradley, knoxville, Communicationstommy hugh Bragwell, Muscle shoals, FPGtravis scott Brickey, knoxville, Communicationsscott Brooks, knoxville, Communicationsrobert Lance Brown, Muscle shoals, sCFrank caramante, spring City, NPGJonathan harold carlton, soddy-Daisy, Operations Oversight & Performance Improvementsolomon Wayne clair, Clinton, FPGDavid angelo codevilla, knoxville, Office of General CounselJody cox, Chattanooga, Human ResourcesJames Mike crabb, Muscle shoals, sCseth tyler Daniels, knoxville, FsKevin Gary Davis, Muscle shoals, sCelizabeth anne Doucette, Decatur, NPGLarry Freeman, spring City, sCMichael Bradley Fussell, knoxville, FsKeith James Ginel, Nashville, Fssteven B. Gladson, Dandridge, Facilities ManagementJonathan David Gore, Chattanooga, NPGWilliam paul Gouge, spring City, NPGtommy rex hairston, Huntsville, FMLinda B. hall, spring City, NPGMary elizabeth hallam, Chattanooga, Benjamin thomas hardy, Decatur, NPGeric D. harmon, Chattanooga, Fsevan Gustave hauser, Chattanooga, Power supply & Fuelscecil L. haynes, Muscle shoals, FPGterry r. hixon, Chattanooga, Information servicesJames Merritt hobbs, Decatur, NPGnathan Davis holland, Chattanooga, FPGrussell stuart holt, knoxville, IsJohn alan hoyle, knoxville, Fsaquila t. hughley, Chattanooga, NPGWilliam andrew Jeffers, spring City, NPGJames scott Johnson, spring City, NPGMonica Kalal, Chattanooga, NPGDavid clarence Kennedy, Hartsville, sCKevin Lee Kuykendall, Decatur, HRronald edward Larsen, Decatur, NPGJohneece Gibson Lewis, spring City, NPGantonio r. Lopez, spring City, NPGthomas Michael Maddox, Hartsville, sCJohn timothy Mccarthy, spring City, NPGGuy anthony McGuckin, spring City, NPGJoseph D. Mcspadden, spring City, NPGanthony Wade Melton, Decatur, NPGJoshua owen Miles, Decatur, NPGJenika r. Mincey, Chattanooga, sCKenneth Dewayne Mize, spring City, NPGLonnie ray Moffett, Chattanooga, sCcharles Lebron Mullins, spring City, NPGMartha Kaye Murphey, Cumberland City, FPGJoshua David Murphy, Chattanooga, Ps&Fchristopher charles niblock, Chattanooga, sCZachary L. patterson, Chattanooga, Nuclear Generation

Development & ConstructionBarbara ann perdue, Chattanooga, Yan e. petchatnikov, Chattanooga, Ps&FDara Johanna phillips, knoxville, River Operationsshawn Lee powers, knoxville, HRanthony allen pugh, knoxville, sCMarion a. rankin, soddy-Daisy, NPGJohnnie Mae ratliff, knoxville, IsDouglas a. risner, Tuscumbia, FPGevan Graham roach, knoxville, FsFrederick alex rone, knoxville, FsKari Deanne rudolph, Chattanooga, HRJames Garald shilling, spring City, NPGMichael Jason shipp, Chattanooga, FPGKimberly Dawn sissom, Chattanooga, NPGJames trevor smith, Muscle shoals, sCJeffrey Lynn smith, soddy-Daisy, NPGrachel carey smith, Chattanooga, PsOJohn Daniel snyder, Chattanooga, Ps&FKaren ashley spain, knoxville, FsJames Jeffery spears, Muscle shoals, sCJacob alan stanford, Chattanooga, Office of Inspector GeneralJohn travis staten, Chattanooga, FsMonica G. stevens, Chattanooga, HRDuane Keith summerville, Mount Juliet, PsOpaul Bryan tackett, spring City, NPGJonathan D. Wallace, knoxville, IsGregory edward Wesson, Chattanooga, Fsspencer D. Whittier, Chattanooga, Office of Environment & ResearchJames Linton Wilson, spring City, NPGtyler clayton Wolfford, Chattanooga, NPGDaniel Leonard Wulsch, Decatur, NPGstephanie n. York, spring City, NPGLee ellen Young, Chattanooga, NGD&C

PresorTed sTAndArdu.s. PosTAGe PAidTennessee VAlley

AuTHoriTy

InsideTVATennessee Valley Authority400 west summit Hill driveKnoxville, Tn 37902

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.”

Water-resource protection and improvement, climate-change 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.

“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

measuring TVA’s environmental footprint

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.

Susan Jacks, manager, River Forecast Center

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