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Insights > As Grand Gulf nears 40 years of operation, Davis shares her personal 40-year perspective
As Grand Gulf nears 40 years of operation, Davis shares her personal 40-year perspective
09/24/2024
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Many of us view Grand Gulf construction days through hazy pictures on the wall, but Linda Davis recalls them clearly with a first-person point of view. That’s because long before we were pumping megawatts, Linda was serving our site.
Linda started working at the plant as a contractor on January 23, 1984, at what was then called Mississippi Power and Light. When a position opened, she was hired permanently on August 13, 1984, a little over 40 years ago. Almost a year later, on July 1, 1985, the plant started up and Linda was already steeped in the nuclear way.
“At the time I was working in a department called document control,” she recalled, “and we were getting everything ready for when they would start up. There were lots of drawings and documents coming in, and we had to file them and scan them in the micrographic department. We did the things that technology does now. That department doesn’t even exist anymore. Now people can do it all themselves.”
Now as the senior administrative assistant in the engineering department, Linda notes the evolution of processes we now take for granted.
“Oh, it’s different now,” she said. “The process has changed tremendously. If you're scanning a document, you just go to the copy machine and scan it in and upload it wherever it needs to go. Whereas back in the day, I might have to prep the document, but then there was somebody else that scanned the document. Then there was another process where it had to go to the dark room, and then to some other people to add it into the system. Now all of that has been cut out. One person can do it all.”
Four decades past those early days, Linda said she’s “on countdown” regarding retirement with only a few years left to go.
“Once I retire, I want to keep volunteering like I do now with the PTA, United Way and the Girl Scouts. I’ll do a breast cancer walk in the fall. It just depends on what we have going on in the community.”
Retirement will also mean freeing up more time to pursue her passion for travel.
“Oh, I love north Georgia—that’s my favorite place” she said. “When I went there, it was up in the mountains. It was so quiet and peaceful. Last month I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Indianapolis, Indiana. Last year, I went to Las Vegas. I’m trying to see what to put on the bucket list for next year.”
Until then, Linda is enjoying life in engineering. While only a few people have been around as long as she has, she likes meeting the new employees too.
“It’s true there is a generation gap with the young, new employees,” she said, “but they also have new ideas. I like how everybody in the department gets along. I’m proud to work for a company that wants to engage its employees to do good things. It’s like a family because I’ve been here so long.”
