ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Sep 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
From operator to entrepreneur: David Garcia applies outage management lessons
David Garcia
If ComEd’s Zion plant in northern Illinois hadn’t closed in 1998, David Garcia might still be there, where he got his start in nuclear power as an operator at age 24.
But in his ninth year working there, Zion closed, and Garcia moved on to a series of new roles—including at Wisconsin’s Point Beach plant, the corporate offices of Minnesota’s Xcel Energy, and on the supplier side at PaR Nuclear—into an on-the-job education that he augmented with degrees in business and divinity that he sought later in life.
Garcia started his own company—Waymaker Resource Group—in 2014. Recently, Waymaker has been supporting Holtec’s restart project at the Palisades plant with staffing and analysis. Palisades sits almost exactly due east of the fully decommissioned Zion site on the other side of Lake Michigan and is poised to operate again after what amounts to an extended outage of more than three years. Holtec also plans to build more reactors at the same site.
For Garcia, the takeaway is clear: “This industry is not going away. Nuclear power and the adjacent industries that support nuclear power—and clean energy, period—are going to be needed for decades upon decades.”
In July, Garcia talked with Nuclear News staff writer Susan Gallier about his career and what he has learned about running successful outages and other projects.
Top Tier ANS Award
Topic: Research in Science or Engineering
VIEW RECIPIENTSSUBMIT NOMINATION
Nomination Deadline
August 1
Presented at the
Winter Conference
Award
Engraved Bronze Medal
The Seaborg Medal recognizes an individual for outstanding scientific or engineering research achievements associated with the development of peaceful uses of nuclear science. This award honors excellence worthy of international recognition sustained over a period of time.
Nominees may be from any nation, but they must not be deceased at the time the awardee is selected and need not be ANS members.
The award consists of an engraved bronze medal. It is to be made no more frequently than once per year and is presented during the ANS Winter Conference.
The award was established in 1983 to provide high-level recognition for sustained technical accomplishments contributing to peaceful uses of atomic energy. It is funded out of the general Honors and Awards fund and named after Glenn T. Seaborg, the inaugural recipient.
Nominations for candidates for the award are invited by an announcement in Nuclear News and an open call for nominations to all ANS members.
Nominees are evaluated by a subcommittee of the Honors and Awards (H&A) Committee. The committee must have at least five members. If the committee determines that there is no candidate of sufficient merit, the committee may recommend that the award not be made in that year.
The selection committee reviews the nominations and makes a selection which is forwarded to the ANS Executive Committee for their approval.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
View Award