Kick-off Meeting at Plant Farley. (From Left to Right: Mike Stinson, Plant Farley Plant Manager, Dennis Pike, System Engineer, Darrin Gard, System Engineer)

NA-YGN recently made in-roads into the state of Alabama with kick-off meetings on March 8 at Southern Nuclear Company (SNC) headquarters for Southern Nuclear and Southern Company Services employees, and again on March 12, with an off-site pizza party for Plant Farley employees. SNC President and CEO, George Hairston spoke at the corporate meeting and said, "This is a dynamic, innovative group of professionals dedicated to building a future that includes nuclear. I've been impressed with their enthusiasm, hard work and dedication. They have what it takes and with our support, I truly believe they can make a difference."

Rachel Keahey, an environmental specialist at SNC's corporate office, has been instrumental in bringing NA-YGN to Southern Nuclear and she is optimistic about the future, "We had a great turnout at the meeting with many interested in either joining NA-YGN or in showing their support for the group. Everyone was excited and full of ideas about making a difference. People were asking, 'What can we do first?' and 'When can we get started?'"

Plant Farley also showed enthusiasm for NA-YGN. "We were especially surprised at the turnout to our meeting. I am pleased to say that we had 35 employees who braved tornado warnings and came out on their own time to learn about NA-YGN. Not only that, but they showed special dedication by attending during an outage, which I feel is indicative of what we will accomplish," said Nicole Faulk, an engineer with the plant.

Southern Nuclear's Plant Vogtle and Plant Hatch plan similar meetings in late March and April.