History and Future of Nuclear Power in Texas

Rhonda Nielsen is the Rotarian of the week!!

About the speaker:

James Mertink, Consultant, Commercial Nuclear Power

James Mertink has over 40 years of experience in commercial nuclear power. Most recently, he served as the manager responsible for developing a culture and process of continuous improvement at the South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company. In this position, he facilitated the station to develop a culture of continuous improvement with specific focus on understanding current levels of performance and mapping plans to improve in areas that did not reflect industry excellence. Currently, he serves as a consultant to the nuclear industry.

He has held positions from engineer and licensed senior reactor operator to senior leadership positions in key organizations including Operations, Maintenance, Training, Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement.

His experience includes a multi-year assignment at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) where he supported the plant evaluation process and assisted in implementation of the continuous monitoring process. He was a member of evaluation teams and continuous improvement assistance teams that visited and assisted ten domestic nuclear power plants. This diverse experience has included support of the international nuclear power industry through World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) Peer Review at the Hungary Paks station and the International Atomic Enenergy Association (IAEA) working group concerning Nuclear Knowledge Management. And recently James consulted with numerous Japanese utilities in the areas of performance monitoring and nuclear safety culture.