PPL Susquehanna announced September 3 that Jeffrey M. Helsel, who has nearly 30 years of experience at the Luzerne County, Pa., nuclear plant, has been named plant manager.
Helsel replaces Neil J. Gannon, who is retiring from the company. Helsel will report directly to Timothy S. Rausch, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer for PPL Generation, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation.
"We thank Neil for his service to Susquehanna, and we wish him well," Rausch said. "We are very pleased to have someone with Jeff's experience fully prepared to step into this important position."
As plant manager, Helsel will have responsibility for operations, maintenance, work management, support programs and training for the two-unit nuclear facility.
Helsel has been manager of Nuclear Training at PPL Susquehanna since last year and had served as Nuclear Operations manager at the plant for four years prior to that. He began his Susquehanna career in 1981 as an auxiliary system operator. Among other positions, he worked as a plant control operator, unit supervisor, outage supervisor and shift supervisor before being named Nuclear Operations manager in 2004.
A native of Cambria County, Pa., Helsel earned an associate degree in nuclear engineering technology from The Pennsylvania State University and is completing a bachelor's degree in nuclear technology at Excelsior College. He also maintained an active Nuclear Regulatory Commission operator license for 20 years.
The appointment is effective September 10.
The Susquehanna plant, located about seven miles north of Berwick, Pa., is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is operated by PPL Susquehanna.
PPL Susquehanna is one of PPL Corporation's generating facilities. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation, through its PPL Generation subsidiary, controls or owns more than 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom.