Juliana Pacheco Duarte

Juliana Pacheco Duarte serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she leads research in nuclear safety analysis, thermal-hydraulics, and risk assessment of advanced nuclear systems. Her expertise spans experimental design for high-pressure two-phase heat transfer phenomena and computational thermal-hydraulic analysis using industry-standard codes including COBRA, CTF, TRACE, and MELCOR.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2018), an MS from the University of São Paulo (2014), a BS from State University of Campinas (2016), and a BS from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2013). Prior to her doctoral studies, she contributed to critical heat flux experiments for nuclear propulsion reactors at the Brazilian Navy’s thermal-hydraulics division.

Dr. Duarte's research program integrates traditional nuclear engineering methodologies with cutting-edge machine learning techniques, focusing on accident-tolerant fuels, severe accident progression in small modular reactors, and fire safety analysis in electrical enclosures. Her work addresses critical challenges in post-critical heat flux phenomena, density wave instabilities, quenching behavior, and uncertainty quantification for nuclear safety applications.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2023-2025) reveals a pronounced trend toward machine learning integration in nuclear safety analysis, with 60% of articles applying AI/ML methods to thermal-hydraulic challenges, accident progression modeling, and fire risk assessment. Her research bridges experimental validation with computational modeling, particularly in chromium-coated cladding performance, electrical fire dynamics, and natural circulation stability.

Her scientific contributions have been recognized through prestigious awards including:

• 2023 DOE Nuclear Energy University Program Distinguished Early Career Program Award
• 2022 American Nuclear Society ATH’22 Best Paper Award
• 2019 US NRC Nuclear Education Program Faculty Development award
• 2014 CREA/RJ IV Oscar Niemeyer Award for Scientific Projects
• CAPES Science without Borders Fellowship (2014)

Dr. Duarte actively mentors graduate students through thesis research courses (NE 790/890/990) and teaches advanced courses including Methods for Probabilistic Risk Analysis of Nuclear Power Plants. Her research is supported by grants from the Department of Energy (NEUP program), Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Brazilian funding agencies including CAPES and CNPq.

Her experimental work leverages high-pressure thermal-hydraulic facilities at UW-Madison, with collaborations extending to national laboratories and industry partners in nuclear safety validation studies. Current projects focus on fusion machine design applications and next-generation accident-tolerant fuel performance under extreme conditions.