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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.
C. A. Preskitt, E. A. Nephew, J. R. Brown, K. R. Van Howe
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 29 | Number 2 | August 1967 | Pages 283-295
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE67-4
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A general description of pulsed-source experiments is developed from the time-dependent reactor equations. The interpretation of experiments is discussed, taking into account differences in shape and spectrum between the fundamental prompt and delayed modes, and the influence of prompt and delayed harmonic modes. Pulsed-source data obtained during the zero-power commissioning program of the Peach Bottom reactor are interpreted in terms of reactivity. Using an inhour analysis, good accuracy is obtained by incorporating detailed calculations into the interpretation. It is shown that the space-dependent variation of the reactivity deduced from modified pulsed-source techniques may exceed a factor of 10 in systems like the Peach Bottom reactor.
