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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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September 2025
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August 2025
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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.
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
James Holloway is vice president–Nuclear Engineering & Fleet Support.
His organization is responsible for all facets of engineering support of the Dominion Energy fleet of seven operating reactors; corporate regulatory affairs including nuclear licensing, emergency preparedness and NERC compliance; and the Subsequent License Renewal project team.
Holloway joined Dominion Energy in 2001 as design engineer at Surry Power Station. After obtaining experience in Operations as a shift technical advisor, he became supervisor-Engineering Coordination in 2009. He subsequently held a series of supervisory positions in Nuclear Engineering at Surry Power Station. He was promoted to Manager Site Engineering in January 2018 and transferred to Manager Nuclear Site Services in September 2018. He was promoted to Director-Nuclear Engineering in August 2020 and was for supporting the Company’s operating nuclear power generating stations. He assumed his current post in August 2022.
Prior to joining the company, he worked at Newport News Shipbuilding as an engineer.
Holloway received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University. He earned a shift technical advisor certificate in 2004 and senior reactor operator (SRO) certificate in 2007.
Last modified March 20, 2024, 9:31am EDT
