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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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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 Award
Topic: Nuclear Technology
VIEW RECIPIENTSSUBMIT NOMINATION
Nomination Deadline
March 1
Presented at the
Annual Conference
Award
Engraved Bronze Medal
The Walter H. Zinn Medal recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions to the advancement or implementation of nuclear technology. This award is to recognize notable and sustained technical contribution, leadership, or other service that has not been widely recognized.
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 medal. It is to be made no more frequently than once per year and is normally conferred during the ANS Annual Conference.
This award was established by the Operations & Power Division in 1976 with the inaugural award going to Walter H. Zinn, a pioneer in nuclear reactor development and the Society's first President, for his many contributions to the development of nuclear power. Subsequent recipients have been selected by the Operations & Power Division Honors and Awards Committee to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to nuclear power. In August 2018, the OPD and ANS H&A Committee elevated this award to a national Top Tier ANS award, and it was renamed the Walter H. Zinn Medal.
Nominations must include the completed nomination form accompanied by the following supporting documents:
View Award
