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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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September 2025
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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.
Technical Session|Panel|Sponsored by ETWDD
Monday, June 17, 2024|1:00–2:45PM PDT|Banyan C
Session Chair:
Sola Talabi
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Lisa M. Marshall
There is currently widespread support for the development of an advanced nuclear workforce, as demonstrated by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (H.R. 4346), which establishes a new Advanced Nuclear Research Infrastructure Enhancement Subprogram, which will fund up to four new research reactors. Several universities are currently in the process of assessing the prospect of deployment of an advanced nuclear reactor on their campuses. In some cases, these new reactor programs include the following additional objectives beyond research; engagement with the community, energy production, environmental sustainability, and demonstrating potential efficiency of cost and schedule deployment. For universities with existing reactor programs, the universities are assessing compatibility of the advanced reactors within the parameters of the existing reactor programs, and determining what modifications and expansions may be required. For universities in a first-time deployment scenario, this poses a challenge and a benefit. This panel will explore the process, challenges, and next steps.
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