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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.
2022 ANS Winter Meeting and Technology Expo Speaker
As senior vice president of nuclear operations for Duke Energy, Steven Capps provides oversight for the safe and reliable operation of the company’s nuclear plants in South Carolina. He assumed lead responsibilities for the Catawba, Oconee and Robinson plants in October 2018.
Previously, Capps served as senior vice president of nuclear corporate for Duke Energy. In this role, he had responsibility for Duke Energy’s nuclear corporate functions, including nuclear corporate engineering, nuclear major projects, corporate governance and operation support and organizational effectiveness.
Prior to that, Capps served as site vice president of the McGuire Nuclear Station for five years. He was responsible for the safe and efficient operation of McGuire, a two-unit, pressurized water-reactor nuclear generating facility in Huntersville, N.C. He directed station and facilities management, operations, maintenance, chemistry and radiation protection, engineering, nuclear and industrial safety and business operations.
Capps has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear field. He joined the company in 1987 as a field engineer at Oconee Nuclear Station in Seneca, S.C. During his time at Oconee, Capps served in a variety of leadership roles at the plant, including senior reactor operator, shift technical advisor, and mechanical and civil engineering manager. In 2008, Capps transitioned to McGuire as the engineering manager. He later became plant manager and was named site vice president of McGuire in 2012.
The Westminster, S.C., native graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. Capps has completed the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations’ (INPO) senior nuclear plant management course and earned a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Senior Reactor Operator License for Oconee Nuclear Station.
Capps and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons and a daughter.
Duke Energy, one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States, supplies and delivers electric services to approximately 7.9 million customers in the Southeast and Midwest. The company also distributes natural gas services to approximately 1.6 million customers in the Carolinas, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Its commercial business operates a growing renewable energy portfolio across the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 150 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK.
Last modified October 28, 2022, 9:37am MST
