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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|Fission Surface Power/Nuclear Electric Propulsion
Thursday, May 9, 2024|3:15–4:55PM MDT|Sweeney B
Session Chair:
Georgette Alexander-Morrison (X Energy)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Aditya Shivprasad
We have a full line up of fast paced talks for this session - I know it is late in the day - but come join us for a great variety of papers. NOTICE: This session will include discussions on NUCLEAR Launch Safety (which extends beyond FSP and NEP payloads).
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Multiphysics Analysis of Compact Failsafe Nuclear Fission Power System for Space and Extraterrestrial Surface Application
3:15–3:21PM MDT
Aanchal Gupta (Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Rizwan-uddin (Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), Magdi Ragheb (Univ. Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Paper
Radiological Contingency Planning Under the NSPM-20 Framework
3:21–3:27PM MDT
Alexander Q. Gilbert (Zeno Power Systems)
Assessment of Canadian Fission Surface Power Options
3:27–3:33PM MDT
Justin Spencer (Canadian Nuclear Laboratories)
MOOSE: Canada's Space Nuclear Power Concept
3:33–3:39PM MDT
Devan Wagner (MDA)
Aluminum Cemented Tungsten Tetraboride Bearings for Dusty Space Environments
3:39–3:45PM MDT
Andrew Makepeace (Millennitek), Candice Kinsler-Fedon (Howmet Aerospace), Drew Spradling (Millennitek)
Overview of Experimental Design and Testing at the MIT Research Reactor in Support of Space Nuclear Technology Development
3:45–3:51PM MDT
Nesrin Cetiner (MIT), Arunkumar Seshadri (MIT), Jiankai Yu (MIT), David Sprouster (MIT), Yina Huang (MIT), Jason Schulthess (INL), Sacit Cetiner (MIT), Steven Hoak (MIT), David Carpenter (MIT), Lance Snead (MIT), Koroush Shirvan (MIT)
Demonstration of the In-Pile Steady State Extreme Temperature Testbed at the Ohio State University Research Reactor
3:51–3:57PM MDT
Emily Hutchins (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Lawrence Heilbronn (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Brandon Wilson (ORNL), N. Dianne Bull Ezell (ORNL)
On the Qualification Process of a New Radiography System for the Inspection of Carbon Bonded Carbon Fiber Sleeves and Discs
3:57–4:03PM MDT
Nidia C. Gallego (ORNL), Rex Veach (ORNL), Roger Miller (ORNL)
NRC Literature Review Report on the Safety Review Process for Space Nuclear System Launches
4:03–4:09PM MDT
S. Tina Ghosh (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission), Steven Shockley (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission), Trey Hathaway (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
NASA's Inaugural Nuclear Flight Safety Handbook, NASA-HDBK-8715.26
4:09–4:15PM MDT
Donald Helton (NASA Headquarters)
Presentation Slides (Visible to Attendees)
The Nuclear Launch Safety Analysis Toolchain: Status Report
4:15–4:21PM MDT
Mario Mendoza (Ultra Safe Nuclear), Kevin A. Makinson (Ultra Safe Nuclear)
ASTM Standard Development for Safe Operating Practices In-Space for Space Fission Reactors used for Nuclear Power and Propulsion
4:21–4:27PM MDT
Randy Bell (Aerospace Corp), Don Helton (NASA)
Recent High-Temperature Heat Pipe Work at Advanced Cooling Technologies
4:27–4:33PM MDT
Calin Tarau (Advanced Cooling Technologies), Jeff Diebold (Advanced Cooling Technologies), Sandeep Hatte (Advanced Cooling Technologies), Brett Leitherer (Advanced Cooling Technologies), Kuan-Lin Lee (Advanced Cooling Technologies)
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