Executive Vice President, Tennessee Valley Authority

Preston Swafford is currently Chief Nuclear Officer and Executive Vice President of TVA’s Nuclear Power Group.  

He is responsible for managing the nuclear fleet and providing a stable baseload of power from six nuclear operating units at TVA’s Browns Ferry, Sequoyah and Watts Bar plants.  His responsibilities include power production, nuclear power plant operations, plant modification, nuclear support services, and all nuclear engineering activities, as well as ensuring compliance with nuclear regulatory commission requirements.  

Mr. Swafford joined TVA in May, 2006, as Senior Vice President of TVA Nuclear Support and has also held key roles in nuclear operations, filling in as TVA’s Chief Nuclear Officer in early spring 2007, and overseeing Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear plants in 2006.  His responsibilities in TVA Nuclear Support included directing engineering and technical services, nuclear assurance and licensing, emergency services, project management, outage and scheduling, business services, process methods, nuclear security, and other areas.  

In July of 2007, Mr. Swafford was appointed to the position of Executive Vice President, Fossil Power Group, where he was responsible for business, engineering and operation of 59 operating units at 11 fossil plant sites across the Tennessee Valley area, accounting for more than 60 per cent of TVA power generation.  He was also responsible for 87 peaking combustion turbines, six combined cycle units and 13 diesel generators for emergency back-up power for a total generating capacity of 7,134 megawatts. The combined total power of fossil and combustion turbines was more than 22,000 megawatts. 

Prior to joining TVA, Mr. Swafford spent more than 10 years with Exelon, where his most recent position was Senior Vice President of Exelon Energy Delivery, with accountability for all aspects of technical services. He previously served as Exelon’s Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery Operations, directing all daily operations for the transmission and distribution system of PECO and ComEd, and before that as Maintenance Superintendent, Station Manager, and Site Vice President for Dresden Units 2 and 3.  

He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Bruce Power (Canada). In that role, he also serves on the Nuclear Safety Review Board.

Prior to joining Exelon, Mr. Swafford held various positions, including Radiation Protection Manager and Maintenance Manager for Niagara Mohawk.

He holds a B.S. in chemistry from Truman State University and an M.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Missouri. He is certified as a Senior Reactor Operator for boiling water reactors.