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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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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.
To add or remove a session from your itinerary, please check the circle to the left of its title.
1:00–2:45PM EDT
Marriott 3|Sponsored by ETWDD
Session Chair: Travis W. Knight|Alternate Chair: Daniel Carleton
Panel|Marriott 4|Sponsored by FCWMD
Session Chair: Tim P. Tinsley|Alternate Chair: Eleanor Perkins
Marriott 9|Sponsored by IRD
Session Chair: Padhraic L. Mulligan|Alternate Chair: Lei R. Cao
Panel|Michigan/Texas|Sponsored by MCD
Session Chair: Jean C. Ragusa|Alternate Chair: Sebastian Schunert
Marriott 10|Sponsored by MSTD
Session Chair: Simon M. Pimblott|Alternate Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Florida/Illinois|Sponsored by NCSD
Session Chair: Tom Stockman|Alternate Chair: Tracy E. Stover
Panel|Tennessee|Sponsored by OPD
Session Chair: Hitesh Bindra|Alternate Chair: Piyush Sabharwall
Panel|Kentucky|Sponsored by RPD|Cosponsored by OPD
Session Chair: Michael G. Anness
Marriott 1|Sponsored by RPSD
Session Chair: Sunil S. Chirayath|Alternate Chair: Irina I. Popova
Panel|Marriott 2|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: Lander Ibarra|Alternate Chair: Dave Pointer
Panel|California|Sponsored by YMG
Session Chair: Julianne McCallum
3:15–5:00PM EDT
Marriott 4|Sponsored by FCWMD|Cosponsored by ANSTD
Session Chair: Brenden J. Heidrich|Alternate Chair: Lei R. Cao
Session Chair: Cynthia A. Adkins|Alternate Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Panel|Florida/Illinois|Sponsored by NCSD
Session Chair: Deborah A. Hill|Alternate Chair: Benjamin Martin
Marriott 1|Sponsored by NISD
Session Chair: Aaron S. Epiney|Alternate Chair: Mihai A. Diaconeasa
Session Chair: John H. Jackson|Alternate Chair: Alex Huning
Kentucky|Sponsored by RPD|Cosponsored by ANSTD
Session Chair: Eva Davidson|Alternate Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Michigan/Texas|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Carlo Fiorina|Alternate Chair: Joshua L. Peterson-Droogh
Marriott 2|Sponsored by THD
Session Chair: Dillon R. Shaver|Alternate Chair: Haomin Yuan
Panel|Marriott 3|Sponsored by YMG|Cosponsored by ETWDD
Session Chair: Dr. Pierre-Clément (PC) Simon|Alternate Chair: Julianne McCallum
10:00–11:45AM EDT
Session Chair: Lisa M. Marshall|Alternate Chair: Ishita Trivedi
Session Chair: Milos I. Atz|Alternate Chair: Andrew Worrall
Marriott 1|Sponsored by HFICD
Session Chair: Ahmad Al Rashdan|Alternate Chair: Fan Zhang
Session Chair: Edward J. Cazalas|Alternate Chair: Steven R. Biegalski
Michigan/Texas|Sponsored by MCD
Session Chair: Michael Jarrett|Alternate Chair: Jason Hou
Session Chair: Michael R. Tonks|Alternate Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Panel|Florida/Illinois|Sponsored by OPD
Session Chair: Eva E. Davidson|Alternate Chair: Taek Kyum Kim
Tennessee|Sponsored by OPD
Session Chair: Temi Adeyeye|Alternate Chair: Timothy M. Crook
Panel|Kentucky|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Dimitrios Cokinos|Alternate Chair: Massimiliano Fratoni
Marriott 1|Sponsored by DESD
Session Chair: Dustin G. Miller|Alternate Chair: Miles van Noordennen
Marriott 4|Sponsored by FCWMD
Session Chair: Robert A. Joseph|Alternate Chair: Michael S. Smith
Session Chair: Edward J. Cazalas|Alternate Chair: Brenden J. Heidrich
Session Chair: Pierre-Clément Simon |Alternate Chair: Miriam Kreher
Session Chair: Annabelle Le Coq|Alternate Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Session Chair: Kristan M. Wessels|Alternate Chair: Benjamin Martin
Session Chair: John H. Jackson|Alternate Chair: Alexis Maldonado
Panel|California|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Syed Bahauddin Alam
Kentucky|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Scott P. Palmtag|Alternate Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Session Chair: Donna Guillen|Alternate Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Panel|Marriott 3|Sponsored by YMG
Session Chair: Patrick J. Snouffer|Alternate Chair: Harsh S. Desai
Panel|Marriott 1|Sponsored by DESD
Session Chair: Miles Van Noordennen|Alternate Chair: Leah Parks
Panel|Marriott 3|Sponsored by ETWDD
Session Chair: Sola Talabi|Alternate Chair: Todd R. Allen
Session Chair: Steven P. Curtis|Alternate Chair: John H. Kessler
Session Chair: Sandra Bogetic|Alternate Chair: Evan Sebastian Gonzalez
Marriott 10|Sponsored by MSTD|Cosponsored by HFICD
Session Chair: Douglas G. Bowen|Alternate Chair: Kevin H. Reynolds
Panel|Marriott 9|Sponsored by NISD
Session Chair: John H. Jackson|Alternate Chair: Piyush Sabharwall
Session Chair: Benjamin R. Betzler|Alternate Chair: Massimiliano Fratoni
California|Sponsored by RRSD
Session Chair: Adam J. Carroll|Alternate Chair: Venugopal K. Varma
Session Chair: In Cheol Bang
8:00–9:45AM EDT
Session Chair: Leah Parks|Alternate Chair: Nadia S. Glucksberg
Session Chair: Ben Cipiti|Alternate Chair: Michael S. Smith
Session Chair: Kenneth J. Geelhood|Alternate Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Session Chair: Walid Metwally|Alternate Chair: Benjamin Martin
Session Chair: Timothy M. Crook|Alternate Chair: William N. Mann
Session Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov|Alternate Chair: Scott P. Palmtag
Panel|Michigan/Texas|Sponsored by RPD
Panel|Marriott 9|Sponsored by RRSD
Session Chair: Young Soo Park|Alternate Chair: Adam J. Carroll
Session Chair: Jun Liao|Alternate Chair: Joseph Seo
Session Chair: John Mobley IV|Alternate Chair: Julianne McCallum
10:00–10:40AM EDT
Session Chair: Mandy Bowles Tomaszewski|Alternate Chair: Douglas G. Bowen
Marriott 4|Sponsored by FED
Session Chair: Lauren M. Garrison
Marriott 3|Sponsored by OPD
Session Chair: Melanie Joseph|Alternate Chair: Timothy M. Crook
Session Chair: Hitesh Bindra|Alternate Chair: William N. Mann
Session Chair: Yasir Arafat|Alternate Chair: John Jackson
Session Chair: Jason Hou|Alternate Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Session Chair: Ray Klann|Alternate Chair: Irina I. Popova
Session Chair: Subash Sharma|Alternate Chair: Dillon R. Shaver
10:40–11:20AM EDT
Session Chair: Walid A. Metwally|Alternate Chair: Lon E. Paulson
Session Chair: Christina Leggett|Alternate Chair: Benjamin B. Cipiti
Session Chair: Jake R. Quincey|Alternate Chair: Kenneth J. Geelhood
Session Chair: Theresa E. Cutler|Alternate Chair: Brittany M. Williamson
Session Chair: Nicolas Stauff|Alternate Chair: William N. Mann
Marriott 9|Sponsored by RPD
Session Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Session Chair: Andrew Rosenstrom|Alternate Chair: Irina I. Popova
Session Chair: Trevor Kent Howard|Alternate Chair: Lane Carasik
Session Chair: Carlo Fiorina|Alternate Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Session Chair: Jeffrey A. Favorite|Alternate Chair: Sunil S. Chirayath
