Contacts:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giacomotinfena/
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=59677434200
Orcid ID: 0009-0006-2935-2060
Cycle: 40°
Curriculum: Nuclear Engineering and Industrial Safety
Title of the PhD Project: Fission Product Mitigation by Water Pools: From Enhanced Predictive Capabilities to AI-based Models
Supervisor(s): Prof. Sandro Paci, Dott. Michela Angelucci, Prof. Luis E. Herranz (CIEMAT)
Abstract of the PhD project:
As shown in Fukushima Daiichi accidents, radioactivity absorption in water ponds (pool scrubbing) is highly efficient in mitigating Source Term to the environment during Severe Accidents (SA). Therefore, SA analytical tools should include an accurate modelling that provides reliable insights into pool scrubbing effects and reduces the overall uncertainties in fission products release to the environment. In short, the last goal of this research will aim to make a visible improvement of safety analysis of nuclear power plants. All the potential approximations to modelling Source Term attenuation in pools will be explored, from correlations to mechanistic modelling both in 0D and 3D approach and enhanced to the best of their capabilities to develop a definitive sound modelling. Such a development will be thoroughly validated and its uncertainties properly characterized in risk-relevant accident scenarios.
In collaboration with:
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain;
Ph.D Visiting Stages:
- CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain (March 2025 – October 2025)
- Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Industrial Nuclear Energy, KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (November 2025)
Journal Articles:
- Tinfena, G.; Angelucci, M.; Sargentini, L.; Paci, S.; Herranz, L. E., 2025. Inverse uncertainty Quantification in the Severe accident Domain: Application to Fission Product release. Nuclear Engineering and Design 436. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.113954.
Conference Papers:
- Tinfena, G.; Angelucci, M.; Sargentini, L.; Paci, S.; Herranz, L. E., Inverse Uncertainty Quantification for Severe Accident Analyses. RASNE51, Caceres (Spain), September 23-26, 2025.
- Tinfena, G.; Angelucci, M.; Paci, S.; Herranz, L. E., Fission Product Release Modeling in MELCOR: an Extension of the Validation. SCOPE2, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia), November 2-6, 2025.
- Tinfena, G.; Angelucci, M.; Paci, S.; Herranz, L. E., Assessment of pool scrubbing predictive capabilities: Benchmarking SPARC90 against an ad-hoc database. ERMSAR2026 conference, Madrid (Spain), May 18-22, 2026.
Posters:
- Tinfena, G.; Angelucci, M.; Paci, S.; Herranz, L. E., Advancing Pool Scrubbing Simulations: from Traditional to AI Methods. SCOPE2 conference, Dhahran (Saudi Arabia), November 2-6, 2025.