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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!
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August 2025
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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.
VIEW RECIPIENTSSUBMIT NOMINATION
Nomination Deadline
August 1
Presented at the
Winter Conference
The Young Member Excellence Award recognizes a young member who has demonstrated overall excellence in a variety of areas.
It is presented to a member of the Young Members Group who is involved with ANS on a national level, actively advances the goals of the ANS Young Members Group, displays outstanding non- technical skills as well as technical or managerial ability, is recognized by others in their field, demonstrates high quality and safety standards, and positively represents nuclear science and technology to the general population.
Emphasis is placed on well-rounded qualifications. Candidates with demonstrated excellence in many of the areas outlined above are preferred to candidates with outstanding qualifications in only one or two areas, who may be eligible for a different ANS award that specifically recognizes those achievements. (Note specifically that this award is different from the Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award, which is given to an individual who has made significant technical contributions.)
Emphasis is also placed on continuing excellence. Candidates with a demonstrated history of these qualities over several years are preferred to those with one or two discrete achievements, although these achievements will certainly be considered.
The nominee must be an ANS member and a member of the Young Members Group at the time of nomination. The nominee must further be either under the age of 36 or within five years of graduation at the time of nomination (i.e., meeting the ANS definition of “young member”).
The award consists of an engraved plaque and is presented at the ANS Winter Conference.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
For more information, please visit the Young Members Group website.
View Award
