Education and Training Series #117: MELCOR: The Evolution of Nuclear Safety Analysis Technology to Enable Nuclear Innovation

Dr. David L. Luxat leads the Nuclear Energy Safety Technologies department at Sandia National Laboratories. He directs the development of the MELCOR computer code—a technology-neutral analytical platform uniquely capable of simulating safety and risk across the full spectrum of nuclear technologies and facility types. Prior to joining Sandia in 2019, Dr. Luxat led a broad range of initiatives for the United States nuclear industry following Fukushima that enhanced plant safety while preserving economic operation. He directed industry efforts to forensically evaluate the March 2011 accidents at Fukushima Daiichi, work that proved central to developing new safety insights and informing remediation planning for the damaged reactors.

Dr. Matthew S. Christian is a research scientist in the Nuclear Energy Safety Technologies department at Sandia National Laboratories. He primarily develops chemical and physical models for the MELCOR computer code. His focus for the past few years has concentrated on improving MELCOR’s capabilities to model molten salt reactors (MSRs) as part of the US-DOE’s ART-MSR Program. Prior to joining the MELCOR team, Dr. Christian developed atomistic density-functional theory approaches for modeling nuclear materials, including molten salts and actinide structures. This work included extensive theoretical analysis to deconstruct if calculation results were based in physical reasoning or numerical inconsistences.

Dr. Patricia Paviet was the first chair of the GIF Education and Training Working Group (2015-2024). She now focuses on leading the efforts of the successful GIF Education and Training webinars series and has been doing so since the inception of this initiative in September 2016. 
She serves on the GIF MSR pSSC representing the United States since 2021. She joined GIF in November 2015, as chair of the Education and Training Task Force. Outside GIF, Dr. Paviet is the National Technical Director of the Molten Salt Reactor Program for the US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy. She is managing the research supporting molten salt reactor development across six U.S. national laboratories. She is also a Senior Technical Advisor at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, providing guidance on used nuclear fuel recycling. She has an extensive technical background on the nuclear fuel cycle (front and back end).