Colorado School of Mines
Reactor Physics Group
Valerio Mascolino, PhD

About me

My name is Valerio Mascolino, and I'm an Assistant Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, Mechanical Engineering Department.

My research interests focus on advanced particle transport methods, reactor kinetics, and advanced reactor design.

I'm very passionate about education and nothing makes me feel more fulfilled than advising the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers.

I love corgis, food, and videogames!

Education

PhD in Nuclear Engineering
Virginia Tech, 2021

MS in Energy and Nuclear Engineering
Politecnico di Torino, 2015

MS in Energy Engineering
Politecnico di Milano, 2016

BS in Energy Engineering
Politecnico di Torino, 2013

Job Experience

2025 - Present
Assistant professor, Colorado School of Mines
2024 - 2025
Principal Nuclear Engineer, Argonne National Laboratory
2022 - 2024
Nuclear Engineer, Argonne National Laboratory
2021 - 2022
Postdoctoral Appointee, Argonne National Laboratory

Research

My research focuses on:

Advanced modeling and simulation of nuclear systems
Development of hybrid methods for particle transport
3-D nuclear reactor kinetics
ML/AI algorithms for nuclear reactor applications
Advanced reactor design and digital twins

Research Projects

A dedicated page with my research projects can be find here:
Research Projects (link)

Publications

Most recent journal articles

G. Wang et al., “Hydraulic performance evaluation of University of Missouri Research Reactor LEU fuel element – comparison of CFD and empirical methods,” Nuclear Engineering and Design, vol. 454, p. 114932, Aug. 2026, doi: 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2026.114932.
V. Mascolino et al., “Impact of U-10Mo HALEU Fuel Element Tolerances on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor Safety and Operational Performance – Neutronics,” Annals of Nuclear Energy, vol. 219, pp. 11307–11307, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111307.
V. Mascolino, A. Haghighat, and J. M. Link, “Monte Carlo Modeling of the MicroCHANDLER Antineutrino Detector During Neutron Beam Irradiation Experiments,” Nuclear Science and Engineering, pp. 1–22, 2025, doi: 10.1080/00295639.2025.2471698.
L. Snoj et al., “A half-century of nuclear research, education and training: Story of the JSI TRIGA reactor,” Annals of Nuclear Energy, vol. 214, pp. 111122–111122, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.anucene.2024.111122.
D. S. Yoon et al., “MURR LEU structural and thermal hydraulics analyses: Part II – Impacts of irradiation thermo-mechanical behavior on thermal hydraulics safety analyses,” Annals of Nuclear Energy, vol. 215, pp. 111236–111236, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111236.

Most recent conference proceedings

D. Paine and V. Mascolino, “Neural Network-Enabled Thermal Feedback Modeling in the Fission Matrix Method,” in Transaction of the American Nuclear Society, Denver, CO, Jun. 2026.
C. Vita et al., “A Correction Ratio Approach to Fission Matrix Interpolation in Systems with Large Temperature Differences,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on the Physics of Reactors (PHYSOR 2026), Turin, Italy, Apr. 2026.
M.-J. Wang, J. Johnson, G. Sjoden, N. J. Roskoff, and V. Mascolino, “Solving Large Scale Fission Surface Power Reactor Shielding Problems,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on the Physics of Reactors (PHYSOR 2026), Turin, Italy, Apr. 2026.
A. Haghighat, T. Franck, B. Seidulla, and V. Mascolino, “Next-Generation Research Reactors: Novel Virginia Research and Education Reactor (VA-RER),” in Proceedings of the International Conference on the Physics of Reactors (PHYSOR 2026), Turin, Italy, Apr. 2026.
L. Piccinini, A. Stinchelli, F. di Fonzo, V. Mascolino, and N. Cefis, “On the impact of Lithium Diffusion on the Neutron Activation of Alumina Coatings in the DEMO WCLL Breeding Blanket,” in Proceedings of the International Conference on the Physics of Reactors (PHYSOR 2026), Turin, Italy, Apr. 2026.