Massimiliano Fratoni

Xenel Distinguished Professor
Department Chair
Energy Engineering Faculty Adviser

Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2008
M.Sc. Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2007
Laurea, Nuclear Engineering, "Sapienza" Università di Roma, 2004

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Biography

Massimiliano Fratoni is Xenel Distinguished Associate Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB).

He received a Laurea in Nuclear Engineering from Sapienza Università di Roma (Italy), and a MSc and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to joining the Nuclear Engineering Department at UCB, he held a Research Scientist position at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and a faculty position at The Pennsylvania State University.

Prof. Fratoni’s main research interests are in sustainable nuclear energy through advanced reactors and advanced fuel cycles that maximize natural resource utilization and minimize nuclear waste. During his career, Prof. Fratoni has worked on several advanced reactor concepts including molten salt reactors, both solid and liquid fuel, sodium and lead cooled fast reactors, reduced moderation boiling water reactors, accident tolerant fuel and fusion reactors. He also worked on machine learning application in nuclear data and waste repository performance.

Research Interests

Advanced nuclear reactors design
- molten salt reactors
- liquid-metal-cooled fast reactors
- fluoride-cooled high-temperature reactors
- reduced-moderation boiling water reactors
- small or micro modular reactors
Uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis
Multi-physics modeling and simulation
Accident tolerant fuel
Advanced fuel cycles analysis
Geological repository and far-field criticality
Fusion blanket design

Honors, Awards, & Professional Activities

Honors and Awards

Xenel Distinguished Professor, 2020-2025
Early Career Reactor Physicist Award, ANS 2018
Reactor Physics Division Best Paper Award, ANS Annual Meeting 2017
Directorate Award, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Outstanding Research Mentorship Award, New Experiences for Research & Diversity in Science, University of California, Berkeley
Outstanding Student Mentorship Award, Nuclear Engineering Department, University of California, Berkeley
Alan F. Henry/Paul A. Greebler Memorial Scholarship, American Nuclear Society
Outstanding Student Presentation Award, M&C-SNA 2007
Best Student Paper Award, PHYSOR 2006
2nd Prize – ANS Graduate Student Design Competition, ANS Winter Meeting 2006
Graduated “Summa Cum Laude,” Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
UCB Summer Institute for Preparing Future Faculty Fellow

Mentored students’ awards
Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Award – Michael Martin, 2017
1st Prize American Nuclear Society Graduate Student Design Competition – Class project, 2016
Best Paper Award – Yishu Qiu, ISNNP 2016
ASME Best Poster Award – Xin Wang, ICONE24
CNS Best Poster Award – Yishu Qiu, ICONE24
Student Program Award – Xin Wang, ICAPP 2016
Best Undergrad Presentation in Mathematics and Computation – Michael Martin, ANS Student Conference 2016
Best Undergrad Presentation in Fuel Cycle and Waste Management – Matt Wolfson, ANS Student Conference 2013
Best Undergrad Presentation in Reactor Physics – Daniel Abercrombie, ANS Student Conference 2013
Most Unique Poster – Erica Quarrick, ANS Student Conference 2013

Professional Activities

Member of the Generation IV International Forum Education and Training Working Group
Vice-chair of the Program Committee the American Nuclear Society Reactor Physics Division

Selected Publications