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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.
10:00–11:40AM MDT
Sweeney B|Fission Surface Power/Nuclear Electric Propulsion
Session Chair: Andrew Zillmer|Alternate Chair: Aditya Shivprasad
Coronado/DeVargas|Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Session Chair: Christopher (Britton) Reynolds|Alternate Chair: Randy Bell
Panel|Sweeney F|Radioisotope Power Systems
Session Chair: Harsh Desai|Alternate Chair: Harsh Desai
Sweeney A|Radioisotope Power Systems
Session Chair: Nick R. Wozniak|Alternate Chairs: Nick R. Wozniak, Lauren Nelson
1:00–2:40PM MDT
Panel|Sweeney F|Fission Surface Power/Nuclear Electric Propulsion
Session Chair: Lindsay Kaldon|Alternate Chair: Vedant Mehta
Sweeney B|Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Session Chair: Minghui Chen|Alternate Chair: Katey Lenox
Session Chair: Stacey L. Eaton|Alternate Chair: Ari Foley
3:15–4:55PM MDT
Session Chair: N. Dianne B. Ezell|Alternate Chair: Scott Wilson
Session Chair: Erofil Kardoulaki|Alternate Chair: Scarlett W. Paisner
Panel|Sweeney F|Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Session Chairs: Lee S. Mason, Mohamed El-Genk
Session Chair: Gabrielle Lee|Alternate Chairs: Gabrielle Lee, Timothy Schriener
Session Chair: Michael C. Miller|Alternate Chair: Georgette Alexander-Morrison
Session Chair: Kate Kelly|Alternate Chair: Holly R. Trellue
Session Chair: Lindsey Holmes|Alternate Chair: Lindsey Holmes
Session Chair: Jake R. Matthews|Alternate Chair: Robert Wingo
Session Chair: Randy Bell|Alternate Chair: Andrew Zillmer
Session Chair: Katey Lenox|Alternate Chair: Mohamed El-Genk
Session Chair: Elizabeth Bluhm|Alternate Chair: Adam Parkison
Session Chair: Mikaela Blood|Alternate Chair: Mikaela Blood
Session Chair: Timothy Schriener|Alternate Chair: Randy Bell
Session Chair: Duane Barber|Alternate Chair: Duane Barber
Session Chair: Timothy Reuter
Session Chair: Scott Wilson|Alternate Chair: N. Dianne B. Ezell
Session Chair: Mikaela Blood|Alternate Chair: Katey Lenox
Session Chair: Nick Wozniak|Alternate Chair: Joe Giglio
11:40AM–1:00PM MDT
Sweeney CDE|Poster Session
Session Chair: Holly R. Trellue|Alternate Chair: Holly R. Trellue
Session Chair: Aditya Shivprasad|Alternate Chair: Caitlin A. Kohnert
Coronado/DeVargas|Nuclear Thermal Propulsion|Cosponsored by Radioisotope Power Systems
Session Chair: Stacey L. Eaton|Alternate Chair: Holly R. Trellue
Session Chair: Roberta Mulford|Alternate Chair: Amanda Robertson
Session Chair: Georgette Alexander-Morrison|Alternate Chair: Aditya Shivprasad
Session Chair: Doug Burns|Alternate Chair: Doug Burns
Session Chair: Tim Tinsley|Alternate Chairs: Tim Tinsley, Tim Gregory
