Dr. Pierre-Clément (PC) Simon is a computational scientist and fuel performance modeler at
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), which he joined in 2021. He has extensive experience in
advanced modeling and simulation of fission and fusion systems and materials, which is
supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and
Simulation (NEAMS) program and INL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development
(LDRD) funding. In the fission space, Dr. Simon leads the NEAMS Light Water Reactor
Working Group. His research focuses on the development of multiscale fission gas
capabilities in the fuel performance code BISON, expanding them to model high burnup fuel
behavior. He also has expertise modeling TRISO, uranium nitride, and MOX fuel
performance. In the fusion space, he leads the development of the MOOSE-based Tritium
Migration Analysis Program, version 8 (TMAP8), a recent LDRD project to develop the
MOOSE-based Fusion ENergy Integrated multiphys-X (FENIX) framework to simulate
plasma facing components, and an LDRD focusing on modeling thick-wall Chamber
Dynamics in Inertial Fusion Systems using MOOSE. Through his work, Dr. Simon
collaborates with several national laboratories, universities, and private industries around
the world.
Prior to joining INL, Dr. Simon graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a Ph.D. in
Nuclear Engineering. Before that, he obtained an M.Sc. in Engineering Science from the Ecole
Centrale de Lyon in France, an M.Sc. in Nuclear Engineering from The Pennsylvania State
University, and a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the University Claude Bernard de Lyon in
France.
In addition to his technical work, Dr. Simon is heavily involved in the scientific community and is
dedicated to the empowerment of early career and international researchers. The transformative
impact of his efforts on the culture of inclusivity at INL were recognized with the 2024
Laboratory Director Inclusive Diversity award. He chairs INL’s Early Career Researchers
Association, co-chairs the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Young Members Group program
committee, and was recently elected to join the executive committee for the ANS Materials
Science and Technology Division and the Fusion Energy Division. 

Computational Materials  ♦  Computational Fusion  ♦  Nuclear Materials

Multi-Scale Modeling  ♦  Multiphysics modeling  ♦  Fuel Performance

Microstructure Evolution  ♦  Fission Gas Release  ♦  TRISO fuel

Zirconium Hydrides  ♦  Uranium Nitride  ♦  Uranium dioxide

Tritium Transport  ♦  Phase Field Modeling  ♦  MOX fuel

Finite Element Analysis  ♦  Image Analysis