Grand Gulf Nuclear Station has a new vice president, one of three changes on Entergy Nuclear’s corporate ladder prompted by a pending retirement.

Mike Perito, previously vice president of the utility’s River Bend Station at St. Francisville, La., was moved into the job after Randy Douet was tapped to lead Entergy’s nuclear business development in Jackson. Douet succeeds Kenneth Hughey, who retires March 31 after 28 years.

Eric Olson, River Bend’s general manager, was moved to the vice president spot at St. Francisville.

“Being able to move quality people within our fleet is crucial to our success,” said Jeff Forbes, chief operating officer for Entergy Nuclear’s southern sites, in a release.

Perito began working at River Bend in January 2008 after 29 years in the industry, including as operations manager at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass., and in leadership posts at Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station in Illinois and Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona.

Douet worked at Entergy-operated Arkansas Nuclear One, River Bend and Waterford 3 in Taft, La., in the 1990s until 2002. He became vice president at Grand Gulf in March 2008. In between, he worked with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Olson joined River Bend in 2007 as general manager of plant operations. Previously, he worked a variety of jobs at the Pilgrim station starting in 1988, including operations manager.

“Locally, Mike Perito and Eric Olson both have proven experience in driving performance to success,” Forbes said. “At the national and global level, Randy Douet’s experience will be invaluable as we continue to position our company as a leader in nuclear development.”

Hughey, a native Mississippian, led Entergy through plant acquisitions and helped establish the New Orleans-based utility as the pre-eminent contractor in license renewal, the company said. Hughey joined Entergy in 1983 as a licensing engineer. Later, he was director of nuclear safety and regulatory affairs at Grand Gulf. Hughey also led efforts, since shelved, to license new units at Grand Gulf and River Bend.

“Kenneth has been tireless in leading efforts to re-establish the nuclear option for Entergy, our customers and the U.S. nuclear industry,” said Donna Jacobs, Entergy Nuclear’s senior vice president of planning, development and oversight. “Without Kenneth and his group demonstrating the commonsense aspects of nuclear energy at a national level, the path to nuclear license renewals and new nuclear building might not be such realistic endeavors today.”

Entergy owns and operates 12 nuclear power plants nationwide and delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The company employs about 15,000 and reports annual revenues of more than $11 billion.