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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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Sep 2025
Jan 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.
General Chair:
Steve Johnson (Idaho National Laboratory)
Deputy General Chairs:
Andrew Zillmer (Idaho National Laboratory)
Amanda Robertson (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Publications/Technical Programs Chair:
Sebastian Corbisiero (Idaho National Laboratory)
Administrative:
Cassie Sandoval (Idaho National Laboratory)
Student Involvements:
Young Lee (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Nate Gilliam (Idaho National Laboratory)
Saroj Kumar (The University of Alabama in Huntsville)
Technical Programs:
Austen Fradeneck (Idaho National Laboratory)
Sabah Bux (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Mike Houts (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center)
Vedant Mehta (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Social Media Liaison:
Anna Lanzillotta (Idaho National Laboratory)
Committee Members:
Harmon Veselka (Idaho National Laboratory)
TJ Harrison (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
George Ulrich (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Paul Ostdiek (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
Alexei Klimenko (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Organizer:
R. Chris Robinson (Principal Technical Consultant, Y-12 National Security Complex | Pantex Plant)
If you have a question or suggestion, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are here to help! Please send us an email and someone will get back to you within 24 hours of your email.
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