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.
Educational Session|Panel|Sponsored by Maintenance and Work Management
Tuesday, August 11, 2020|12:00–1:30PM EDT
Session Chair:
Jon Anderson (ACA Proactive)
Session Organizers:
Pete Arthur (INPO)
John McDonald (INPO)
Bryant Hearne (INPO)
Knowledge Manager:
Saieed Ahmed (Exelon Corporation)
This session starts with a discussion by Brandon Jenewein on the Work Management Simplification South Texas Project is implementing. This project will result in a significant reduction in personnel through “automated” Functional Equipment Group (FEG) Long-Term Scheduling. Brandon will be supported in this discussion by Jon Anderson, Tim Johnson, and Richard Jackson, three suppliers that are helping with this project. Pat Schotter from Palo Verde will discuss their TeMPO project and significant savings through automation. Topics will include Work Order Screening, Recurring Task Generation, Risk Reviews, Material Requests, etc. Scott Lappegaard from Xcel will discuss the automations they are working on including, Ready to Work Repetitive Work, including Master Tagouts, Model Work Orders, Correct Spare Parts, etc. Pete Arthur, John Mc Donald and Bryant Hearne from INPO will be supporting.
To access the session recording, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Register NowLog In
To access session resources, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
Session Notes
To join the conversation, you must be logged in and registered for the meeting.
