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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.
Thomas M. Anklam, Mike Dunne, Wayne R. Meier, Sarah Powers, Aaron J. Simon
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 1 | July 2011 | Pages 66-71
IFE - NIF & LIFE | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 1) | doi.org/10.13182/FST10-329
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper presents the case for early commercialization of laser inertial fusion energy (LIFE). Results taken from systems modeling of the US electrical generating enterprise quantify the benefits of fusion energy in terms of carbon emission, nuclear waste and plutonium production avoidance. Sensitivity of benefits-gained to timing of market-entry is presented. These results show the importance of achieving market entry in the 2030 time frame. Economic modeling results show that fusion energy can be competitive with other low-carbon energy sources. The paper concludes with a description of the LIFE commercialization path. It proposes constructing a demonstration facility capable of continuous fusion operations within 10 to 15 years. This facility will qualify the processes and materials needed for a commercial fusion power plant.
