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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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Sep 2025
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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.
Technical Session|Sponsored by MSTD
Monday, June 12, 2023|3:15–5:00PM EDT|Marriott 10
Session Chair:
Cynthia A. Adkins
Alternate Chair:
Jake R. Quincey
Session Organizer:
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Understanding the Roles of Dislocation Networks in Additively Manufactured Stainless Steels on Void Swelling
3:15–3:35PM EDT
Tianyi Chen (Oregon State), Spencer Doran (Oregon State), Milad Ghayoor (Oregon State), Somayeh Pasbani (Oregon State), Yu Lu (Boise State), Ching-Heng Shiau (Boise State), Yaqiao Wu (Boise State), Lin Shao (TAMU)
Paper
Mechanism for the Superior IASCC Resistance in HIP AM 316L
3:35–3:55PM EDT
Jingfan Yang (Purdue), Laura Hawkins (INL), Lingfeng He (NCSU), Zhongxia Shang (Purdue), Miao Song (Univ. Michigan), Yu Lu (Boise State), Xiaoyuan Lou (Purdue)
High-Throughput Creep Testing for AM 316H SS by Using Microstructurally-Graded Specimen
3:55–4:15PM EDT
John Snitzer (Purdue), Xiaoyuan Lou (Purdue)
Repair Technique for Chloride Induced Stress Corrosion Cracking Using Friction Stir Processing of 304L
4:15–4:35PM EDT
David Zirker (Univ. Idaho), Stefan Abbott (Univ. Idaho), Krishnan S. Raja (Univ. Idaho), Saumyadeep Jana (PNNL), Indrajit Charit (Univ. Idaho)
Machine Learning Prediction of Fracture Toughness in Hydrogen-Charged Stainless Steels
4:35–4:55PM EDT
Eric Hoar (SRNL), Dale Hitchcock (SRNL), Timothy Krentz (SRNL), Lindsay Roy (SRNL)
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