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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.
You are exposed to ionizing radiation every day from natural and human-made sources.
Natural radiation comes from the soil, which contains a number of radioactive elements such as uranium, radium, and thorium. High-energy radiation also reaches Earth from far in outer space.
Human-made radiation is the greatest source of exposure today, primarily in medical imaging and procedures. In fact, medical uses of radiation account for 98% of exposure to artificial radiation. In contrast, nuclear power plants account for less than 1% of exposure.
Is radiation harmful?
Like many tools, radiation brings humanity a number of significant benefits. Cancer treatment, pest control, smoke detection, medical sterilization, space travel, clean energy— these are ways that nuclear science and technology improve our lives.
Handled correctly, radiation is a safe and powerful tool.
Using radiation safely
How much radiation you receive depends on three things:
Time
The amount of radiation exposure you receive increases the longer you are near the source. Radiation workers are exposed to radiation every day, so they wear dosimeters—devices that measure the amount of radiation a worker receives as they work. Very few people who do not work with radioactivity spend enough time near a powerful source.
Distance
Distance can be used to reduce exposure. The farther away you are from a radiation source, the less your exposure. In fact, doubling the distance from a source of radiation decreases the exposure rate to 1/4 the original exposure rate.
Shielding
Shielding is the placement of a material that reduces radiation between the radiation source and you, like the lead apron a radiologist places over your body.
Different kinds of radiation require different absorbers
Radiation safety often involves shielding--placing a radiation absorbing material near the radiation source.
α ALPHA – can be stopped after traveling through about 1.2 inches of air, about 0.008 inches of water, or a piece of paper. Your skin provides adequate shielding because alpha particles can’t penetrate it. Alpha particles can be very harmful if inhaled or ingested, though.
β BETA – – Beta particles are more penetrating than alpha particles. They travel farther in air than alpha particles, but can be stopped by a layer of clothing or by a layer of a metal.
γ GAMMA: Thick, dense materials are necessary to shield from gamma rays. The higher the energy of the gamma ray, the thicker the shield must be. X-rays also require thicker shielding. This is why x-ray technicians often give patients receiving x-rays a lead apron to cover other parts of their body.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates commercial nuclear power plants and other uses of nuclear materials, such as in nuclear medicine, through licensing, inspection and enforcement of its requirements.
Learn more about radiation
Ionizing radiation affects living things on the atomic level by ionizing cells. When the radiation reaches a cell, any of the following can happen.
In addition, there is evidence to suggest that unless radiation exposure reaches ten (10) times the normal background level, there is no harm to humans from radiation. Furthermore, there appears to be evidence that radiation at or near the normal background level may be beneficial to, and even necessary, for life.
For low levels of radiation exposure (under 10,000 mrem), the biological effects are so small they may not be detected at all. The body’s natural repair mechanisms often repair any damage to the cells before any effect is felt or detected. This protective effect of low levels of radiation is called “radiation hormesis.”
