Beth Jenkins
Beth Jenkins is the new manager of TVA’s Watts Bar nuclear power plant after serving as the site’s director of engineering for the past three years. She’s had 21 years of experience in nuclear energy. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a master’s in engineering from Union College in New York. She initially worked for Bechtel.
“In operations, your focus is always the safe operation of the plant,” says Jenkins. “It’s a lot of responsibility, but you also understand that an entire region is depending on the low-cost, reliable, carbon-free electricity your site is producing around the clock. That’s something you never take for granted.”
Moving to Tennessee was a family decision, she said. “It was a tough decision to leave (the Chicago area), but we love the people and our home in the mountains.”