G. Ivan Maldonado

Associate Department Head and Magnavox Professor

Biography

G. Ivan Maldonado is Associate Department Head and Magnavox Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee (UT) Department of Nuclear Engineering and Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). The Magnavox Professorship is an endowed award created in 1981 by the Magnavox Company (absorbed by NAP Consumer Electronics Co. and later acquired by Philips Consumer Electronics) to recognize faculty in the Tickle College of Engineering for superior teaching and research accomplishments. Maldonado has been affiliated with the US nuclear industry for more than 30 years, with expertise in computational modeling and simulation of current and next-generation nuclear reactors and specialization in nuclear fuel management. Most recently, his graduate students have been involved in neutronics simulations for activation, waste classification, and dose rate assessment of fusion reactors. Maldonado joined UT in 2007, received tenure in 2012, and became full professor in 2017. The Tickle College of Engineering has recognized him with the Research Achievement Award in 2012, 2017, and 2022. He has mentored and supported more than 25 PhD students and 50 master’s students, co-authoring over 250 scholarly articles mostly with his graduate students.

Research

Reactor physics, in-core fuel management, fuel cycle and isotopic analysis, advanced reactors, fusion neutronics and multi-physics.

Education

• PhD, Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
• MNE, Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N
• BS, Engineering Physics, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH

Professional Service

Recognized in 2024 as ANS Fellow, Maldonado has been a consultant to several organizations, including the US NRC ACRS, and worked in the nuclear industry as a technical program manager for General Electric/Global Nuclear Fuel in the design, licensing, and operational management of GE/GNF boiling water reactors.  He has served as Guest Editor to the Progress in Nuclear Energy and Annals of Nuclear Energy journals, as technical program chair and division chair for the ANS’s Reactor Physics Division, and co-general chair and honorary chair for the International Conference on the Physics of Reactors in 2012 and 2028, respectively.  Most recently, he served as the general chair for the 2025 Advances in Nuclear Fuel Management conference.

Awards and Recognitions

• 2026, Associate Department Head and Magnavox Professor
• 2026, Honorary Chair, Physics of Reactors (PHYSOR-2028)
• 2025, General Chair, Advances in Nuclear Fuel Management (ANFM-2025)
• 2024, Promoted to ANS Fellow by the American Nuclear Society
• 2024, General Chair, Advances in Nuclear Fuel Management (ANFM-2025)
• 2023, Superior Paper Award, WM2023 Symposium (w/ Jonathan Wing)
• 2022, UT Tickle College of Engineering Research Achievement Award
• 2019, Mentor to Top UT NE Senior Design Team Selected as 2019 ANS Finalist
• 2018, Guest Editor, Annals of Nuclear Energy, PHYSOR 2018 Special Issue
• 2017, Awarded Full Professorship at The University of Tennessee
• 2017, DOE Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award (w/ Troy Eckleberry)
• 2017, UT College of Engineering Research Achievement Award
• 2016, DOE Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award (w/ Nick Luciano)
• 2012, Awarded Early Tenure at The University of Tennessee
• 2012, UT College of Engineering Research Fellow Award
• 2012, DOE Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award (w/ Cole Gentry)
• 2012, DOE Innovations in Fuel Cycle Research Award (w/ Nathan George)
• 2012, General Co-Chair, 2012, PHYSOR Conference, Knoxville, TN
• 2011, Best Paper, 2011 COMSOL Conference (w/ David Chandler)
• 2010-11, Chair, American Nuclear Society, Reactor Physics Division
• 2007-10, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chair, ANS Reactor Physics Division

Publications

Select list of publications. For the full list, view his Google Scholar page.

Y.S. Panchal, G. Ivan Maldonado, “Uncertainty Quantification Propagation in FNG HCPB-Tritium Breeding Module using OpenMC-SANDY workflow,” accepted, Journal of Fusion Engineering and Design, FUSENGDES-D-26-00195R3 (accepted 17 August 2026).

G. Nelson, S. N. Quang, B. T. Taczak, R. Worrall, L. Casali and G. I. Maldonado, (2026) "Operational and Shutdown Dose Rate Analysis of MAST-U Using OpenMC," in IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, doi: 10.1109/TPS.2026.3685095 (published online 07 May 2026).

Rizk, M., Brown, N. R., & Maldonado, G. I. (2026). Neutronics and Activation Analysis of Aluminized RAFM Steel. Fusion Science and Technology, 82(4), 917–922. https://doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2533079 (published online 08 Sep 2025).

Nelson, N. G., Quang, S. N., Brown, N. R., & Maldonado, G. I. (2026). Shutdown Dose Rate Analysis of Various Blanket Concepts. Fusion Science and Technology, 82(1–2), 299–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2478542 (published online 23 Apr 2025)

Wing, J., Petersen, G. M., Joseph, R. A., & Maldonado, G. I. (2025). Evaluation of PBR Spent Fuel Criticality and Dose Rate Compliance for Storage and Transportation. Nuclear Science and Engineering, 200:1934-1950. August 2026. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2547490 (published online 05 Nov 2025)

B.T. Taczak, L. Casali, S. Quang, G.I. Maldonado & K. Lee. (2025). Physics-Informed Plasma Profile Input for OpenMC Fusion Neutronics. Fusion Science and Technology, 1–12. Published online: 04 Sep 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2525028

Son Quang, Nicholas R. Brown, G. Ivan Maldonado (2025). Proposed relaxed criteria for fusion-activated materials, Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, Volume 37, July 2025, 101229, ISSN 1359-0286, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cossms.2025.101229.

J.L. Barthle, N. Meehan, G.I. Maldonado, N.R. Brown (2025). A RELAP5-3D Model of the Lobo Lead Loop. Nuclear Technology, Vol. 211, 1080-1091, May 2025. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2374661 (published online 26 Jul 2024).

Rizk, N.R. Brown, G.I. Maldonado (2024), “Neutronics Analysis of Shielding Material Alternatives to Tungsten Carbide in the FESS-FNSF Facility,” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 52, No. 9, 4050-4053, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2024.3477551.

N. Quang, N. R. Brown and G. I. Maldonado (2024), "Testing the Activation Analysis for Fusion in OpenMC," IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 52, No. 9, 4184-4190, September 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPS.2024.3426323.

Novak, L. Sklenka, O. Huml, G.I. Maldonado, O. Chvala (2024), “Delayed neutron library analysis using dynamic control rod calibration method based on results from the VR-1 reactor experiment and Serpent 2 transient calculation,” Annals of Nuclear Energy, Volume 207, 2024, 110685, ISSN 0306-4549, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2024.110685.