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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|Sponsored by FCWMD
Wednesday, October 8, 2025|8:00–9:40AM CDT|Cumberland South
Session Chair:
Brady D. Hanson
Alternate Chair:
Uffe Bergmann
:
Kurshad Muftuoglu
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Multiscale Modeling and Characterization Strategy Accelerating Development of Nuclear Grade Silicon Carbide Composites
8:00–8:25AM CDT
Joel Kosmatka (General Atomics), Chris P. Ellis (General Atomics), Ryan Hon (General Atomics), Jason Rizk (General Atomics), George Jacobsen (General Atomics), Ricardo Lebensohn (LANL), Kevin Spilker (LANL), Gyanender Singh (INL), Kyle Gamble (INL), Jason Hales (INL), Jamshid Kavosi (General Atomics), Laurent Capolungo (LANL), Herbert Shatoff (General Atomics)
Paper
Evaluation of End-plug Joint Strength for Siliicon Carbide Cladding under a Simulated Severe Accident Condition
8:25–8:50AM CDT
Ryo Ishibashi (Hitachi GE Vernova Nuclear Energy, Ltd.), Kazuma Hirosaka (Hitachi GE Vernova Nuclear Energy, Ltd.), Masatoshi Shibata (Hitachi GE Vernova Nuclear Energy, Ltd.), Masana Sasaki (Hitachi GE Vernova Nuclear Energy, Ltd.), Yoshiyuki Nemoto (Japan Atomic Enegy Agency), Tatsuya Hinoki (Kyoto University)
GNF ATF Irradiations and PIE Programs
8:50–9:15AM CDT
Ian Porter (Global Nuclear Fuel), Robert J. Schneider (Global Nuclear Fuel), Dan Lutz (Global Nuclear Fuel)
Status and Development of Mo-Microcell UO₂ Fuel Pellets for ATF Application
9:15–9:40AM CDT
Dong Seok Kim (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute), Dong-Joo Kim (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute), Jae Ho Yang (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute), Heungsoo LEE (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute), Ji-Hae Yoon (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute), Ji H. Lee (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
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