Columbus, NE. - Khalil Dia, a 24-year employee at Nebraska Public Power District’s Cooper Nuclear Station
near Brownville, has been named General Manager of Plant Operations (GMPO) effective May 1, replacing Joe
Sullivan who has been named General Manager at Entergy’s Arkansas One Nuclear Power Station.
“I am very pleased with the selection of Khalil as our next general manager,” said NPPD President and CEO Pat
Pope. “We have an agreement with Entergy to provide support services to Cooper that has been very effective
with staff they have brought in. This will mark the first time since this agreement has been in place that we have
had an NPPD employee in this role. I am confident in Khalil’s ability to handle this critical position and continue
the expected excellent performance at CNS. I also want to wish Joe Sullivan the best in his new position and
thank him for his outstanding effort in our operations.”
Dia has served as Engineering Director at CNS where he was responsible for the engineering department
including reactor and fuel engineering since 2016. After three years working at Arizona Public Service’s Palo
Verde Nuclear Generating Station as a design engineer, Dia joined NPPD in 1996 as a System Engineer at
Cooper and later became System Engineering Supervisor in 2010 and System Engineering Manager in 2012,
before his move to Engineering Director.
Sullivan will transition to the general manager role at Arkansas Nuclear One, where he will report to the site Vice
President.
Dia will report to Vice-President and Chief Nuclear Officer John Dent. “I’m very excited that we have someone of
Khalil’s caliber right here at Cooper that is ready to step into the role of GMPO,” said Dent. “Khalil is a gifted,
dedicated hard working leader who, in his 24 plus years at Cooper, has made an indelible mark on the culture at
the station, particularly related to teamwork as well as the operational reliability of the plant.
“He’s dedicated his career to driving Cooper’s equipment reliability to be one of the best in the industry. Moving
into the role of GMPO here at Cooper is the perfect, natural fit for Khalil. I’m looking forward to continuing to work
closely with him as we strive to be the best of the best in the industry.”
A resident of Nebraska City, Dia is a graduate of Arizona State University and holds a Bachelor of Science
degree in Engineering and has done graduate course work at Arizona State.
Sullivan’s came to CNS in 2019 as part of the Entergy management team. He was previously director of
performance improvement at Entergy’s nuclear headquarters in Jackson, Miss.
“Joe’s been a great addition to the Cooper team,” Dent said. “His work ethic, experience, positive attitude and
team spirit have contributed positively to Cooper’s journey of becoming the best performing plant in the industry.
Although Joe will surely be missed at Cooper, he’ll be a great addition to the ANO team.”