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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.
Minsun Ouyang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 71 | Number 2 | November 1985 | Pages 506-511
Technical Paper | Analyses | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33702
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An iterative correction method based on gamma attenuation in matrix material and self-absorption in plutonium has been developed for the nondestructive gamma assay of plutonium waste. In the process, the equivalent atomic number of the matrix material and the lump radius of plutonium are estimated. These estimations can be used for the detection against possible covert diversion of plutonium. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous samples were tested and consistent results were obtained. Specially shielded lump plutonium samples canned in the waste drums were tested and the contents of those samples were adequately disclosed.
