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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
Jan 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.
TopFuel 2025: Nuclear Reactor Fuel Performance Conference
Chairman
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Honorable David A. Wright was appointed Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by President Donald Trump on July 31, 2025, and is serving a five-year term ending June 30, 2030. Chairman Wright previously served on the NRC Commission from May 2018 to June 2025.
Chairman Wright was Owner/President of Wright Directions, LLC, a strategic consulting, policy development and communications business focusing on energy and water. During this time, he also was a member of the Advisory Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Nuclear Waste Initiative; and an Ex Officio Member and Chairman Emeritus of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition, an ad hoc organization representing the interests of industry, state officials, local governments and tribes, and consumer advocates. From 2004-2013, Chairman Wright served the South Carolina Public Service Commission in a variety of capacities, including Vice Chairman and Chairman. From 2011-2012, he served as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners; he had previously served the association in other capacities, including as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. From 2010-2013, Chairman Wright was a member of the Advisory Board of the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute. Previously, he was elected councilman and mayor in Irmo, S.C., and to the South Carolina House of Representatives.
A colon cancer survivor, Chairman Wright is an advocate for cancer awareness and education, and a former member of the Leadership Council for the Cancer Centers at the University of South Carolina. He was presented with the Community Champions Award by Molina Healthcare of South Carolina in 2016 and the Blue Star Service Excellence Award by the USC Center for Colon Cancer Research in 2014. In 1996, he received South Carolina’s highest citizen honor, The Order of the Palmetto.
Chairman Wright received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Clemson University.
Last modified August 28, 2025, 10:35am CDT
