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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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Room 3|Session Chair: N. Dianne B. Ezell
Monday, November 10, 2025|1:00–2:45PM EST
Panel|Room 2|Session Chair: James J. Byrne
Panel|Room 2|Session Chair: Erhard W. Koehler
Monday, November 10, 2025|3:15–5:00PM EST
Panel|Room 2|Session Chair: Dustin G. Miller
Tuesday, November 11, 2025|10:15AM–12:00PM EST
Panel|Room 2|Session Chair: Leah S. Parks
Tuesday, November 11, 2025|1:00–2:45PM EST
Tuesday, November 11, 2025|3:15–5:00PM EST
Panel|Room 2|Session Chair: Mark S. Campagna
Wednesday, November 12, 2025|8:00–9:45AM EST
Room 1|Session Chair: Travis W. Knight
Room 1|Session Chair: Andrew E. Thomas
Room 1|Session Chair: Justin K. Watson
Room 5|Session Chair: Kaushik Banerjee
Room 5|Session Chair: Harish Reddy Gadey
Wednesday, November 12, 2025|10:15AM–12:00PM EST
Room 14|Session Chair: Syed Bahauddin Alam
Room 11|Session Chair: Linyu Lin
Panel|Room 4|Session Chair: Aaron S. Epiney
Room 1|Session Chair: Syed Bahauddin Alam
Room 1|Session Chair: Duy-Thien Nguyen
Room 5|Session Chair: Erik H. Wilson
Room 5|Session Chair: Igor Jovanovic
Room 5|Session Chair: Kyle C. Hartig
Panel|Room 5|Session Chair: Brenden J. Heidrich
Panel|Room 10|Session Chair: Madicken Munk
Room 10|Session Chair: Koroush Shirvan
Room 14|Session Chair: Koroush Shirvan
Room 12|Session Chair: Koroush Shirvan
Wednesday, November 12, 2025|3:15–5:00PM EST
Panel|Room 3|Session Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Room 3|Session Chair: Jake R. Quincey
Wednesday, November 12, 2025|1:00–2:45PM EST
Room 7|Session Chair: James R. Cole
Panel|Room 7|Session Chair: Douglas G. Bowen
Panel|Room 7|Session Chair: Sandra L. Larson
Room 7|Session Chair: Angela Chambers
Panel|Room 7|Session Chair: Theresa E. Cutler
Room 7|Session Chair: Kristan M. Wessels
Room 6|Session Chair: Mihai A. Diaconeasa
Room 6|Session Chair: Robert Kile
Room 6|Session Chair: Yunfei Zhao
Panel|Room 6|Session Chair: Aaron S. Epiney
Panel|Room 6|Session Chair: Kevin R. O'Kula
Panel|Room 6|Session Chair: Kevin Robb
Panel|Room 4|Session Chair: Jason K. Hansen
Panel|Room 4|Session Chair: Prashant K. Jain
Panel|Room 4|Session Chair: Nicolas E. Stauff
Room 4|Session Chair: William N. Mann
Room 7|Session Chair: Adam J. Carroll
Panel|Room 13|Session Chair: William C. Eason
Room 15|Session Chair: Stefano Terlizzi
Panel|Room 12|Session Chair: John H. Jackson
Panel|Room 15|Session Chair: Ayman I. Hawari
Panel|Room 15|Session Chair: Anna S. Erickson
Room 15|Session Chair: Travis Lange
Panel|Room 12|Session Chair: Abdalla Abou-Jaoude
Room 15|Session Chair: Justin K. Watson
Room 15|Session Chair: Pavel V. Tsvetkov
Room 15|Session Chair: Ahmed Amin Abdelhameed
Room 15|Session Chair: Zeyun Wu
Room 15|Session Chair: Luiz C. Leal
Room 5|Session Chair: Stefano Terlizzi
Panel|Room 2|Session Chair: Robert B. Hayes
Room 2|Session Chair: Michael A. Lively
Room 2|Session Chair: K. Lisa Fassino
Panel|Room 8|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Room 9|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Room 8|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Room 1|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Room 7|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Panel|Room 9|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Room 3|Session Chair: Izabela Gutowska
Panel|Room 6|Session Chair: Andrew K. Hoffman
Panel|Room 6|Session Chair: John Mobley
Panel|Room 5|Session Chair: Evan S. Gonzalez
Panel|Room 6|Session Chair: Matthew J. Jasica
