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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.
To add or remove a session from your itinerary, please check the circle to the left of its title.
12:00–1:30PM EDT
Panel|Sponsored by Business/Economic Performance
Session Organizer: Maria Hernandez
Panel|Sponsored by Decommissioning
Session Organizers: Lynne Goodman, Joe Carignan
Panel|Sponsored by Engineering and Equipment Reliability
Session Chair: Pareez Golub
Panel|Sponsored by Executive/Leadership
Session Organizer: Ken Thomas
Panel|Sponsored by Maintenance and Work Management
Session Chair: Jon Anderson
Sponsored by Nuclear Supply Chain
Session Organizers: Roger Smith, Jim Ripple
Sponsored by Operations/Ops Training
Session Organizer: Bruce Hennigan
Panel|Sponsored by Performance Improvement
Session Organizers: Fred Lake, Kevin Rackley
Sponsored by Regulatory Relations
Session Organizer: Greg Robison
Panel|Sponsored by Risk Management
Session Organizer: Gene Kelly
Panel|Sponsored by Technology and Innovation
Session Organizer: Adam Dow
2:00–3:30PM EDT
Session Organizer: David Heler
Session Organizer: Gerry VanNoordennen
Session Chair: Ray Herb
Session Organizer: Craig Primer
Session Organizer: Bill Fry
Panel|Sponsored by Performance Improvement|Cosponsored by Maintenance and Work Management
Session Organizers: Fred Lake, Jon Anderson, Kevin Rackley
Panel|Sponsored by Regulatory Relations|Cosponsored by Risk Management
Session Organizer: Ken Lowery
Panel|Sponsored by Technology and Innovation|Cosponsored by Operations/Ops Training
4:00–5:30PM EDT
Session Organizer: Tim Schlimpert
Panel|Sponsored by Decommissioning|Cosponsored by Risk Management, Technology and Innovation
Session Chair: Mark Campagna
Panel|Sponsored by Engineering and Equipment Reliability|Cosponsored by Executive/Leadership, Maintenance and Work Management
Session Organizers: Jon Anderson, Ray Herb, Pareez E. Golub
Panel|Sponsored by Nuclear Supply Chain
Panel|Sponsored by Regulatory Relations
Session Organizers: Amir Afzali, Brandon Chisholm
