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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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Sep 2025
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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.
Technical Session|Sponsored by RPD
Wednesday, November 12, 2025|1:00–2:45PM EST|Room 15
Session Chair:
Zeyun Wu
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Massimiliano Fratoni
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The Requirement for the New TSL Data of Calcium Hydride Based on the Experiment Results of NRG: (1) Measurement Method
1:00–1:20PM EST
Rui Akayama (Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation), Rei Kimura (Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation), Ayumu Okano (Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation), Daisuke Ito (Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science), Naoya Odaira (Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science), Kei Ito (Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science), Yasushi Saito (Kyoto University Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science)
Paper
The Requirement for the New TSL Data of Calcium Hydride Based on the Experiment Results of NRG: (2) Requirement for Nuclear Data
1:20–1:40PM EST
Rei Kimura (Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation), Rui Akayama (Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation), Ayumu Okano (Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation), Daisuke Ito (Kyoto University), Naoya Odaira (Kyoto University), Kei Ito (Kyoto University), Yasushi Saito (Kyoto University)
The Effect of Nuclear Data Discrepancies on Criticality Simulations of Molten Salt Fast Reactors
1:40–2:00PM EST
Madison Grove (Virginia Commonwealth University), Mohamed H. Elhareef (Virginia Commonwealth University), Zeyun Wu (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Generative AI for Nuclear System Design - A Reactor Physics Component
2:00–2:20PM EST
Daniel L. Watson (Texas A&M University College Station), Pavel V. Tsvetkov (TAMU)
MINI-21 Core Neutronics Performance Assessment using Reactor Grade Uranium Fuel
2:20–2:40PM EST
John D. Bess (JFoster & Assoc.), Gray S. Chang (JFoster & Assoc.), Julie Foster (JFoster & Associates, LLC)
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