ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
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
Latest Journal Issues
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|Sponsored by FCWMD
Tuesday, October 7, 2025|8:00–9:40AM CDT|Brentwood/Franklin
Session Chair:
Edward J. Lahoda
Alternate Chair:
Colby B. Jensen
:
To access paper attachments, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Register NowLog In
Irradiation Testing and Scaling Progress on General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems' Silicon Carbide Cladding Technology (SiGA®)
8:00–8:25AM CDT
Sean Gonderman (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Lucas Borowski (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), David M. Frazer (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Rolf Haefelfinger (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Mohammad Alavi (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Aaron Sathrum (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Ryan Hon (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Sarah Oswald (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Andy Giles (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), William Campbell (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Jaclynn Unangst (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), William Mcmahon (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Derek Kuebler (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Christina Jones (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Joshua Quan (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Alden Moore (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), George Jacobsen (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Christian Deck (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), Jack Gazza (General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems), David Kamerman (INL), Jake Stockwell (INL), Peng Xu (INL)
Paper
Evaluation of a Fission Product Release from Accident Tolerant Fuels in the Advanced Test Reactor
8:25–8:50AM CDT
Delaney T. Stine (INL), Brian P. Durtschi (INL), Michael Reichenberger (INL), David W. Kamerman (INL)
Mechanical Response of HFIR-irradiated E-ATF Cr-coated M5FRAMATOME Cladding under Simple and Complex Loading Conditions
8:50–9:15AM CDT
Mahmut N. Cinbiz (ORNL), Ben Garrison (ORNL), Hong Wang (ORNL), Anthony Guarjardo (ORNL), Kory Linton (ORNL), Paul E. Cantonwine (ORNL), Matthieu Aumand (Framatome)
Benchmark Mechanical Test Results of Westinghouse Zirconium Cladding and Irradiated Testing Readiness
9:15–9:40AM CDT
Ben Garrison (ORNL), Guirong Pan (Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC), Ethan Blount (ORNL), Bob Sitterson (ORNL), Josh Kendall (ORNL), Jason M. Harp (ORNL), Mahmut N. Cinbiz (ORNL), Nathan Capps (ORNL), Allison DeAbreu (Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC), Ellen Feldsien (Westinghouse Electric Co.), Charles M. Black (Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC), Jonna Partezana (Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC)
To join the conversation, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
