Holtec International announces the re-organization of its executive team for the new nuclear generation program to accord with its changing imperatives. We are pleased to note that the centerpiece of Holtec’s clean energy technologies, the SMR-160 small modular nuclear reactor, which has recently completed the confirmatory round of safety evaluations, is now entering the pre-construction, regulatory approval and construction phase. The new team of executives with proven expertise in expedited licensing and construction of nuclear projects takes over from the technology development-focused executive team which has so ably advanced the SMR-160 reactor’s many superb safety and constructability attributes that will expedite regulatory acceptance.
Mr. Kelly Trice, who has led Holtec Decommissioning International since 2019 as its president, has been promoted to the position of President, Nuclear Generation and Decommissioning. The decommissioning business unit will continue to report to Kelly who will have the added responsibility to repower the Palisades plant in Michigan, and launch the construction of the first wave of SMR-160 reactors in the US. Kelly has an illustrious record in executive management of complex business enterprises with over 30 years of nuclear plant design, construction, operation, and decommissioning experience and oversight of large scale (multi-billion dollar) engineering, procurement, and construction programs spanning four continents.
Prior to joining Holtec, Kelly served as the president of both the power division at Chicago Bridge and Iron, and its facilities and Plant Services Division where he managed approximately 70 operation centers in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. At its peak, the services Division managed by Kelly had approximately 200 plants under contract, which included about 40% of the U.S. nuclear operating fleet and another 150 petrochemical plants, 17,000 employees and a backlog of roughly $10B with annual revenues of $3.5B. Kelly also served as executive vice president of Bruce Power, a major utility in Canada, which operates eight nuclear reactors and generates approximately 6.4 GW of power. In this capacity, he had the overall responsibility for all of Bruce Power’s capital programs, as well as the refurbishment of six nuclear reactors.
Mr. Rich Burroni has been named Holtec’s Chief Nuclear Officer to lead Holtec’s efforts to ensure regulatory, operational, and environmental compliance in accord with the industry’s norms and standards. He will serve as Holtec’s principal interface with the NRC on emerging nuclear issues and challenges. Rich succeeds Senior Vice President Pierre Oneid who represented Holtec as the company’s Chief Nuclear Officer for over 15 years.
Rich has served as the site vice president of Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) with distinction for several years. Prior to this position, he served in many executive roles at IPEC, each succeeding role entailing increasing responsibility. Under his leadership, IPEC successfully ran two 1100MW pressurized water reactors (PWRs) at full power, setting a new record for a multi-unit site. Furthermore, IPEC unit 3 reactor ran for 753 consecutive days of operation at full power until final shutdown in 2021 – an unprecedented feat. He also served as chief engineer for Entergy’s Northern Fleet of reactors and was instrumental in the successful transition of both IPEC unit 2 and unit 3, when they were combined under Entergy’s ownership.
Rich began his career in the nuclear industry with the New York Power Authority in 1980. He received his Senior Reactor Operator license from the NRC in 1986. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology and a Master of Science degree in Management Science from Pace University. As a professional with decades of immersion in PWR reactors and exceptional leadership abilities exhibited throughout his tenure with Holtec International, we are certain that Rich will lead our nuclear program with great distinction.
Mr. Justin Hawkins advances from the position of SMR Licensing Director to Managing Director of Holtec’s SMR-160 Program. In this new role, he leads the small modular reactor SMR-160’s engineering and licensing organization consisting of eleven enterprise teams. Justin also manages engineering activities with external partners and collaborates with Holtec’s corporate engineering teams. Justin’s encyclopedic knowledge of nuclear regulatory literature, norms, and standards, much admired by his colleagues, derives from his hands-on professional experience in both government and private sectors going back to 2007. He served as the USNRC’s resident inspector at the Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations (NJ), a resident inspector at the Limerick Generating Station (PA), and a traveling inspector performing inspections at several operating plants in the northeast. Prior to his work at the NRC, Justin served for seven years in the US Navy aboard fast-attack submarines. He earned a master’s degree in engineering business management from Old Dominion University (2007) and a bachelor’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the United States Naval Academy (2001).
Other company executives long engaged in the new nuclear program, namely Senior Vice President Mr. Pierre Oneid and Vice President Mr. Thomas Marcille have moved to assume new but equally vital roles. Pierre, a well-known industry veteran, moves to the position of Corporate Senior Vice President of Domestic Nuclear Programs. In thisrole, he has the responsibility to keep the company’s customer base apprised of the continuing advances in the SMR program as well as the clean energy storage and high-efficiency solar energy capture technologies being developed by Holtec. He also serves as the President of the company’s Holtec MENA subsidiary with the principal responsibility to introduce clean energy technologies to the economically vibrant middle east and North Africa region.
Thomas Marcille, a distinguished nuclear engineer with over 30 years of experience in nuclear reactor technologies who led the development phase of SMR-160 for the past ten years with great distinction, now occupies the position of Vice President of Technical Support reporting to the Senior Vice President of International Projects, Dr. Richard Springman (who chairs Holtec’s global client outreach program for clean energy). In this new position, Tom will serve as the internal consultant to the SMR-160 program and assist potential customers of SMR-160 with in-depth technical information.
“The climate calamity confronting the world has awakened us to the need to complete and deploy our clean energy technologies on an expedited schedule. The trio of Green Boiler, HI-THERM (concentrated solar plant) and SMR-160 technologies developed by our company is our humble contribution to combat the rising concentration of Co2 in the environment. Our planned development of the Palisades site into a ~1500 MWe energy center, for example, will prevent over 5 million tons of CO2 from being spewed into the environment per year. We and others must make every effort to bend the curve of carbon rise if our planet is to remain a viable habitat for humanity,” says Dr. Kris Singh, Holtec’s Chief Executive Officer.
You must be logged in to post a comment.