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Fusion Science and Technology
August 2025
Latest News
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.
Gaston Thiell, Xavier de la Roncière, Marc Dupont, Guy Coureau, Philippe Joyer
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 43 | Number 3 | May 2003 | Pages 478-483
Technical Paper | Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A294
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Risk assessment of a complex system that uses new technologies is described: the MegaJoule Laser (LMJ). The steps to obtaining the safety and security goals for LMJ are highlighted, i.e., to ensure safe operation, to put in place detection systems and means to prevent or limit serious accidents, and to limit the consequences to the environment and the workers. The objective is to show what has been done during LMJ design and construction to prevent serious accidents during routine operations and maintenance.The risks during operations and maintenance of the LMJ facility are identified by a preliminary risk analysis. The safety management to address adequately the protective features is described. As an example, a main accidental scenario in the LMJ target area is emphasized: workers' exposure to hazardous levels of nuclear radiation. The LMJ operation and maintenance safety requirements that must be taken into account by the industrial firms to which LMJ contracts have been awarded are discussed.
