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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.
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2024) Plenary SPeaker
Anastasia (Stacy) Mclaughlin is the Senior Director for Science, Technology, and Engineering Programs within the Weapons Production Directorate (ALDWP) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Laboratory is a principal contributor to the United States Department of Energy mission to maintain the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. LANL uses innovative science, technology, and engineering to enhance global nuclear security and protect the world. Los Alamos has an annual operating budget of approximately $3.9 billion, roughly 14,100 employees, and a 40-square-mile site featuring some of the most specialized scientific equipment and supporting infrastructure in the world.
As Senior Director, Stacy leads the non-defense nuclear programs within ALDWP to support national security and deep space endeavors. These programs provide world-class services in nuclear material research, process, and technology development and manufacturing capabilities that support nuclear non-proliferation, plutonium-238 science, manufacturing for NASA and Americium recovery occurring at the Los Alamos’s Plutonium Facility.
Stacy has over 25-years of technical and management experience working throughout the DOE/NNSA weapons complex in program and line management, quality engineering, non-destructive plutonium assay, plutonium processing and engineering, and hazardous waste management. She began her laboratory career as an undergraduate student at LANL in 1994, becoming a consultant, then a technical staff member, and advancing through multiple national security management positions to her present position.
Stacy earned a bachelor’s of science in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside, and a master’s of engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico.
Stacy is a native New Mexican, born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She enjoys sports including skiing and swimming and watching her four children compete in a variety of sports. She is an avid reader and enjoys hiking.
Last modified January 19, 2024, 1:53pm MST
