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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
John R. Longenecker, the Chief Executive Officer of Longenecker & Associates, Inc. (L&A), has more than 35 years experience in energy and national defense. L&A was founded in 1989 and is a woman-owned, Nevada-based small business, specializing in project delivery, mission assurance and business solutions to the nuclear, environmental management and defense industries. Mr. Longenecker also serves as the Managing Director of the Energy Facility Contractors Group (EFCOG). EFCOG promotes excellence in all aspects of the operation, management, and integration of DOE facilities in a safe, environmentally sound, efficient and cost-effective manner through the ongoing exchange of information on lessons learned.
President Bush appointed Mr. Longenecker in December 1992 to serve as Transition Manager for the United States Enrichment Corporation, a government-owned, for-profit corporation that provides uranium enrichment services to electric utilities throughout the world. From 1983 to 1987 Mr. Longenecker served in the Reagan Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Uranium Enrichment in the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to managing the U.S. uranium enrichment enterprise, Mr. Longenecker held other management positions in DOE and its predecessor agencies, including serving from 1981 to 1983 as the Program Manager for the CRBRP Project. In this position, Mr. Longenecker was the primary interface with the NRC during the project licensing process.
Mr. Longenecker has appeared before the Congress of the United States on numerous occasions, and has presented papers in various national and international forums.
Mr. Longenecker is a member of Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society, the American Nuclear Society (ANS), the University Club, the Porsche Club of America, and the Desert Sportsman Club. Mr. Longenecker serves as a member as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of WM Symposia, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing education and information exchange on global waste management issues. L&A directly supports these efforts by providing scholarships annually to students via the Roy Post Foundation.
Mr. Longenecker is a lifetime member of the Walter Reed Society, and L&A annually provides financial support to its Wounded Warriors programs. He also is a Trustee of the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation and a member of the Development Committee of the Las Vegas based National Atomic Testing Museum.
Mr. Longenecker received both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees, with academic honors, from the Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Longenecker was recognized in April 2006 as an Outstanding Engineering Alumnus by Penn State.
Last modified April 12, 2022, 12:17pm MST
