Christopher Cote

Experience

• 

  TXU Energy

  Aug 1987 - Dec 1996

  • Performed Reactor Engineering duties in support of startup and normal power operation and refueling outages at Comanche Peak, a two-unit Westinghouse pressurized water reactor. Provided technical guidance to Operations for plant load follow requirements (i.e. boron concentration, rod positions, anticipated xenon affects).• Developed test equipment and function as lead engineer for control rod drop time testing and zero power physics testing.• Fuel Handling System Engineer, with responsibilities for Fuel Transfer Systems, Fuel Handling Cranes, Spent Fuel Storage Racks, and the Reactor Vessel Head and Internals. Supervised refueling outage field activities, including spent fuel movements, equipment checkouts and repairs, and vendor work activities. Show less

  • Reactor Engineer,

    Jul 1990 - Dec 1996

  • Instrumentation and Control Support Engineer

    Sept 1988 - Jun 1990

  • Emergency Planning, Scenario Development

    Aug 1987 - Oct 1988
• 

  Exelon Nuclear

  Dec 1996 - May 2019

  Shift Operations Superintendent (also referred to as Assistant Operations Manager - Shift). Senior NRC license holder for Westinghouse dual-unit nuclear power plant. Responsible for all aspects of Shift Operations activities, including Senior Reactor Operator license decisions, Operability Determinations, personnel decisions (hiring and performance management), and crew performance. Maintain an active SRO license. Decision maker for all discipline and performance management of Operations Department personnel. As Senior NRC License holder for Byron Station, I am responsible for all technical and regulatory decisions made (Technical Specifications implementation, reportability determinations, license amendment requests).• Level 5 Superintendent with direct oversight and accountability of 120 licensed and non-licensed shift operations personnel, and 35 newly hired individuals in varied training programs.• Qualified Operations Director, with senior license responsibility for Plant Operational Review Committee (PORC), Corrective Action Management Review committee, Plant Health Committee, and other site functions requiring Senior Reactor Operator duties. Function as Byron Operations Director and Station Duty Manager during Director's absence.• Develop, pilot, and implement Licensed Operator and non-licensed Operator continuing training. Based on needs analysis, design and develop simulator training and evaluation scenarios to improve training and actual plant performance. Lead evaluator for out-of-box simulator evaluations, including annual NRC written and dynamic tests (simulator and JPMs).• Responsible for hiring of new candidates for ongoing and planned Initial License Training and Initial Equipment Operator classes. Personally have interviewed and selected ~ 25 individuals to these programs.• Emergency Preparedness duties include: On-call, Technical Support Center Operations Manager, NRC graded exercise scenario development lead. Show less Position is level 5 Assistant to Operations Director, with oversight of Support & Services group. Active Senior Reactor Operator license since 2000. (share site duties as senior license holder at Byron). Responsible for planning and implementation of department budget (~$21M), strategic talent management, and implementation of site projects. Staff of 20 individuals responsibilities include:• Operations department refueling outage planning, scheduling, and clearance order development.• Clearance and tagging site Manager for development of clearance and tagging checklists to support daily and outage work activities.• Department Corrective Action, including Performance Improvement Analyst. Oversee CAP products, develop strategic department initiatives, and provide management direction.• Procedure writing group, including normal, abnormal, and emergency procedures.• Site point of contact for Aggregate Burden Assessments, and coordination with work control/maintenance groups to drive resolution of deficient conditions.• Qualified Simulator Evaluator for Licensed Operator Requalification Training. Evaluate Operating crew during “Out of Box” simulator scenarios. Determine if crew & individuals meet required competencies for continued qualifications as active licensed personnel.• Other qualification include: Plant Operations Review Committee (PORC) member, Maintenance Rule Expert Panel member, Integrated Decision –Making panel member, SAMG Decision Maker.• Emergency Preparedness position: Technical Support Center Operations Manager. Show less Maintain an active Senior Reactor Operator license since July 2000. Responsible for supporting the online work control process for Operations work planning & scheduling. This includes integrated risk reviews for all planned work activities. Manage group of 12 management & bargaining unit personnel who are responsible for attending work planning meeting milestones, and responsible for Generation of post-maintenance testing, coordination of multidiscipline work projects, and interface with Shift Operations. Development of tagout planning and work control products to support daily and outage milestones. Show less • Obtained US NRC Senior Reactor Operator, licensed July, 2000 for Byron Nuclear Station. Byron station is a 2 unit Westinghouse 4-loop PWR. Perform duties as NRC Licensed Unit Supervisor (Control Room Supervisor) and Work Execution Center Supervisor. Coordinate and supervise activities of licensed Reactor Operators and in-plant field operators. Includes power level and mode changes and startup, testing, operation and shutdown of all major systems or components. Responsible for execution of the daily schedule. Direct field activities of non-licensed operators, including work assignments and out of service execution. Coordinate equipment troubleshooting and adherence to required actions of Technical Specifications. Shift Technical Advisor.• Shift Manager per INPO Shift Manager Qualification Program – October 2010. Promoted to permanent ‘E’ crew Shift Manager on 6/25/12. In the Shift Manager position, responsible for operation and conduct of station personnel as the senior licensed on-site position. Responsible for management of shift Operating crew, which is composed of ~ twenty control room and field support personnel (management and bargaining unit personnel). Coordinate emergent equipment issues and respond to human performance issues. Acting Plant Manager during backshifts and weekends. Lead numerous daily work control meetings, and provide station direction and prioritization of equipment repairs. Function as Station Emergency Director, with responsibilities for emergent equipment and personnel issue resolution. Show less Performed Reactor Engineering duties in support of Byron System Engineering nuclear group. Provided technical guidance to Operations for plant load follow requirements (i.e. boron concentration, rod positions, anticipated xenon affects). • Performed estimated critical condition calculations and shutdown margin calculations for reactor shutdown and unit startups.• Fuel Handling System Engineer. • Nuclear Instrumentation System Engineer and Plant Calorimetric Engineer. Project manager for the purchase and implementation of Dynamic Rod Worth Measurement equipment. Show less

  • Shift Operations Superintendent, Byron Operations

    Sept 2016 - May 2019

  • Senior Manager, Operations Support & Services

    Sept 2015 - Sept 2016

  • Manager, Operations Services - Byron Station

    Oct 2013 - Sept 2015

  • Operations - Shift Manager / Senior Reactor Operator (SRO)

    Jul 1998 - Oct 2013

  • Reactor Engineer (Qualified Nuclear Engineer)

    Dec 1996 - Jul 1998
• 

  Exelon

  May 2016 - Feb 2021

  Byron Nuclear Station Site Engineering Director, Exelon. Provide daily oversight of Director duties for site Strategic and Design groups. Support site and fleet initiatives for centralized Design and Program groups to optimize cross-site efficiencies. PORC qualified member for Engineering. Utilize Operational site knowledge to influence Engineering response and provide strategic insights for support group. Maintain current active SRO License.Byron October 2020 B2R22 Refueling Station Outage Manager. World record shortest duration for Pressurized Water Reactor: 14 days, 16 hours, 57 minutes. Provide oversight for critical path activities, Oversight of outage control center, and responsible to station execution of refueling outage tasks. Show less Shift Operations Superintendent (also referred to as Assistant Operations Manager - Shift). Senior NRC license holder for Westinghouse dual-unit nuclear power plant. Responsible for all aspects of Shift Operations activities, including Senior Reactor Operator license decisions, Operability Determinations, personnel decisions (hiring and performance management), and crew performance. Maintain an active SRO license. Decision maker for all discipline and performance management of Operations Department personnel. As Senior NRC License holder for Byron Station, I am responsible for all technical and regulatory decisions made (Technical Specifications implementation, reportability determinations, license amendment requests).• Level 5 Superintendent with direct oversight and accountability of 120 licensed and non-licensed shift operations personnel, and 35 newly hired individuals in varied training programs.• Qualified Operations Director, with senior license responsibility for Plant Operational Review Committee (PORC), Corrective Action Management Review committee, Plant Health Committee, and other site functions requiring Senior Reactor Operator duties. Function as Byron Operations Director and Station Duty Manager during Director's absence.• Develop, pilot, and implement Licensed Operator and non-licensed Operator continuing training. Based on needs analysis, design and develop simulator training and evaluation scenarios to improve training and actual plant performance. Lead evaluator for out-of-box simulator evaluations, including annual NRC written and dynamic tests (simulator and JPMs).• Responsible for hiring of new candidates for ongoing and planned Initial License Training and Initial Equipment Operator classes. Personally have interviewed and selected ~ 25 individuals to these programs.• Emergency Preparedness duties include: On-call, Technical Support Center Operations Manager, NRC graded exercise scenario development lead. Show less

  • Byron Nuclear Station Site Engineering Director, Exelon

    Apr 2019 - Feb 2021

  • Byron Nuclear Station Shift Operations Superintendent

    May 2016 - Apr 2019
• 

  Exelon Nuclear

  Feb 2021 - Dec 2021

  Operations Director - Byron Nuclear Station

  - Responsible for the safe, reliable and error free operation of approximately 150 employees in Operations, Chemistry, and Reactor Engineering. - Maintain active Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) License by attending requalification training, including crew evaluations.- Led the station to two consecutive INPO top performance ratings, top rated plant in the United States, and world record outages. - Developed top talent for the organization by mentoring two Senior Managers. - Duty Plant Manager once every 5 weeks and creating a culture of eliminating safety and operational risk activities. Show less

• 

  Exelon

  Dec 2021 - Feb 2022

  Director, Global Operational Services

  - Joining the team of Exelon personnel assigned full-time responsibilities to support collaboration with Rolls-Royce for review, development, and planning for new Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Primary role will be in Operations, Maintenance, and Outage Planning.- Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited will invest £195m across a period of around three years. The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210 million from UK Research and Innovation funding, first announced by the UK Prime Minister in ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’- The project will be reaching out to Exelon employees over the next three years in the fields of Operations, Engineering, Chemistry, Radiation Protection, Innovation and Training, among others, to collaborate with Rolls Royce to inform the design phase. This design input will be the foundation for the operational plans for the SMR.- “We’ll be looking for a diverse team who has a strong desire and ability to share their knowledge and also a strong desire and ability to learn how to apply that knowledge to this new technology,” said Amy Ferko, Vice President, Global Operations Services, and one of the implementation leads. “We are at the forefront of the next generation of nuclear technology, and this project is very exciting.” Show less

• 

  Constellation

  Feb 2022 - now

  Director, Global Operational Services

  - Global Services Team from Constellation personnel assigned full-time responsibilities to support collaboration with Rolls-Royce for review, development, and planning for new Small Modular Reactor (SMR). Primary role will be in Operations, Maintenance, and Outage Planning.- Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Constellation will invest £195m across a period of around three years. The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210 million from UK Research and Innovation funding, first announced by the UK Prime Minister in ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’- The project will be reaching out to Constellation employees over the next three years in the fields of Operations, Engineering, Chemistry, Radiation Protection, Innovation and Training, among others, to collaborate with Rolls Royce to inform the design phase. This design input will be the foundation for the operational plans for the SMR.- “We’ll be looking for a diverse team who has a strong desire and ability to share their knowledge and also a strong desire and ability to learn how to apply that knowledge to this new technology,” said Amy Ferko, Vice President, Global Operations Services, and one of the implementation leads. “We are at the forefront of the next generation of nuclear technology, and this project is very exciting.” Show less