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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.
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Panel|Session Organizer: Maria Hernandez
Tuesday, August 11, 2020|12:00–1:30PM EDT
Panel|Session Organizer: David Heler
Tuesday, August 11, 2020|2:00–3:30PM EDT
Panel|Session Organizer: Tim Schlimpert
Tuesday, August 11, 2020|4:00–5:30PM EDT
Panel|Session Organizers: Lynne Goodman, Joe Carignan
Panel|Session Organizer: Gerry VanNoordennen
Panel|Cosponsored by Risk Management, Technology and Innovation|Session Chair: Mark Campagna
Panel|Session Chair: Pareez Golub
Panel|Session Chair: Ray Herb
Panel|Cosponsored by Executive/Leadership, Maintenance and Work Management|Session Organizers: Jon Anderson, Ray Herb, Pareez E. Golub
Panel|Session Organizer: Ken Thomas
Panel|Session Organizer: Craig Primer
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|Session Chair: Jon Anderson
Panel|Sponsored by Performance Improvement|Cosponsored by Maintenance and Work Management|Session Organizers: Fred Lake, Jon Anderson, Kevin Rackley
Session Organizers: Roger Smith, Jim Ripple
Session Organizer: Bill Fry
Panel|Session Organizer: Bill Fry
Session Organizer: Bruce Hennigan
Panel|Sponsored by Technology and Innovation|Cosponsored by Operations/Ops Training|Session Organizer: Ken Thomas
Panel|Session Organizers: Fred Lake, Kevin Rackley
Panel|Cosponsored by Maintenance and Work Management|Session Organizers: Fred Lake, Jon Anderson, Kevin Rackley
Session Organizer: Greg Robison
Panel|Cosponsored by Risk Management|Session Organizer: Ken Lowery
Panel|Session Organizers: Amir Afzali, Brandon Chisholm
Panel|Session Organizer: Gene Kelly
Panel|Sponsored by Regulatory Relations|Cosponsored by Risk Management|Session Organizer: Ken Lowery
Panel|Sponsored by Decommissioning|Cosponsored by Risk Management, Technology and Innovation|Session Chair: Mark Campagna
Panel|Session Organizer: Adam Dow
Panel|Cosponsored by Operations/Ops Training|Session Organizer: Ken Thomas
