Massimiliano Fratoni

Engineering faculty and staff headshots at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Photo by Adam Lau/Berkeley Engineering) Massimiliano Fratoni Associate Professor and Chair
Xenel Distinguished Professor
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

Office Hours – W 11 AM -12 PM, or by appointment

Contact Collapse 4151 Etcheverry Hall
maxfratoni@berkeley.edu Biography Expand

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 Expand
  • 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
Publications Expand

Publications

Honors, Awards, and Professional Activities Expand
  • 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