Timothy (Tim) Rausch

Executive Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer

Tim Rausch, executive vice president and chief nuclear officer, leads TVA’s robust nuclear organization, and is responsible for oversight of seven reactors at three nuclear sites: Watts Bar, Sequoyah and Browns Ferry, which together generate enough carbon-free power for more than 4.5 million Tennessee Valley homes and businesses. TVA operates the third largest nuclear fleet in the nation.

Rausch has more than 30 years in commercial nuclear operations. His background includes leadership roles in operations, maintenance, engineering, training, quality, process re-engineering and project management. 

Drawing from all of his experience, he is intensely focused on improving overall operational performance of the TVA fleet so that it ranks in the top quartile in the nation by the end of 2022, and that it is the best in the nation by the end of 2025.

Rausch has introduced a practical “learn, prepare, execute” culture of continuous improvement for the TVA nuclear fleet and is focused on further strengthening TVA’s nuclear safety culture. Beyond that, he promotes a quality work environment through five focus areas that highlight his belief in the power of “We”: We Work Safely, We Execute Flawlessly, We Operate Reliably, We Manage our Resources and We Develop our People.

Under his leadership, TVA completed a multi-year, 465 megawatt uprate on the three units at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant. This uprate provides enough additional generation to power 280,000 homes from the current plant footprint.  

Prior to joining TVA, Rausch served as senior vice president and chief nuclear officer at Susquehanna nuclear plant from 2009, first with PPL Corporation and subsequently with Talen Energy, until accepting the chief nuclear officer position with TVA. At Susquehanna he led the team that developed and executed a business plan to reduce costs by over 25 percent while producing best-ever safety, reliability and generation results in 2017. He had responsibility for corporate executive leadership implementing governance, oversight and support for safe, reliable and cost-effective nuclear company performance.

Additionally, Rausch served as site vice president of Exelon Nuclear Corporation’s Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station and plant general manager at First Energy’s Perry Nuclear Plant, where he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility.

Rausch has a senior reactor operator certificate on a Boiling Water Reactor-2 and a Boiling Water Reactor-6. He received an MBA from Cleveland State University and earned a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He supports careers for the next generation in the nuclear industry by serving on the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga College of Engineering advisory board.