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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
Jeffrey Olson is the Vice President of Business Development & Finance for Kairos Power, and has over 10 years of experience managing strategic growth initiatives for energy technology companies to develop, scale and manage their businesses. Prior to his direct engagement in the early stage energy sector, Mr. Olson spent the first half of his career in management consulting advising Fortune 500 companies on business growth and systems development.
Prior to joining Kairos Power, Mr. Olson led strategic partnership development and commercial operations at the artificial intelligence energy storage provider, Stem, Inc., as the company’s Vice President of Partner Operations. Mr. Olson joined Stem from the fuel cell sector in his roles in corporate finance and international business development with Bloom Energy. Mr. Olson also served as an executive with Accenture’s Strategy Group where he was a founding member of Accenture’s Global Sustainability Practice.
Mr. Olson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an MBA and a Certificate in Engineering & Business for Sustainability. He received his B.A. in Economics from St. Olaf College.
Last modified July 26, 2024, 11:40am EDT
