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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|Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Tuesday, May 7, 2024|10:00–11:40AM MDT|Coronado/DeVargas
Session Chair:
Christopher (Britton) Reynolds (Aerojet Rocketdyne/L3Harris)
Alternate Chair:
Randy Bell (Aerospace Corp.)
Session Organizer:
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Nuclear Power and Propulsion International Gap Assessment
10:00–10:25AM MDT
Markus Landgraf (European Space Agency), Lee S. Mason (NASA Glenn Research Center), Hiroshi Ueno (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Martin Anderson (Canadian Space Agency), Pierre Boutté (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), Daniel Brady (National Resources Canada), Joshua Brayford (UK Space Agency), Pascal Bultel (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), Antoine de la Chevrotière (National Resources Canada), Leonard Dudzinski (NASA Headquarters), Kandyce Goodliff (NASA Langley Research Center), John Guidi (NASA Headquarters), Adrian Guzmán (Agencia Espacial Mexicana), Jintae Hong (KAERI), Chan Soo Kim (KAERI), Andrew Kuh (UK Space Agency), William Mackey (Canadian Space Agency), Micah Melnyk (National Resources Canada), Jun Nakajima (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Claire Parfitt (European Space Agency), Rinat Rashapov (Canadian Space Agency), Dong Young Rew (KAERI), Danilo Sakay (Agência Espacial Brasileira), Leopold Summerer (European Space Agency), Ernest Tan (Canadian Space Agency), Manu Varrier (Indian Space Research Organisation), Brent Wilhelm (National Resources Canada)
Paper
Applications of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion for Deep Space Science Missions
10:25–10:50AM MDT
Christopher B. Reynolds (Aerojet Rocketdyne), C. Russell Joyner II (Aerojet Rocketdyne), Timothy Kokan (Aerojet Rocketdyne), Daniel J. H. Levack (Aerojet Rocketdyne), Brian J. Muzek (Aerojet Rocketdyne), Rod Noble (Aerojet Rocketdyne)
The Politics of Nuclear Rocket Development
10:50–11:15AM MDT
James C. Howe (247 Strategic Consulting)
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees)
Benefits of NTP in Cislunar Transportation System for NASA's Artemis Program
11:15–11:40AM MDT
Saroj Kumar (Univ. Alabama, Hunstville), L. Dale Thomas (Univ. Alabama, Huntsville), Jason T. Cassibry (Univ. Alabama, Huntsville)
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