Dr. Pierre-Clément (PC) Simon is a computational scientist and fuel performance modeler at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), which he joined in 2021. He also holds a joint appointment with the Pennsylvania State University’s Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering. 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 Fusion Energy Science funding. In the fission space, Dr. Simon leads the NEAMS fuel performance 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) and the development of the MOOSE-based Software for Advanced Large-scale Analysis of MAgnetic confinement for Numerical Design, Engineering & Research (SALAMANDER) to simulate plasma facing component. 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 development and empowerment of early career researchers. The transformative impact of his efforts at INL were recognized with a 2024 Laboratory Director award. He is also a 2024 ANS Young Members Group Excellence awardee, and received the 2025 Early Career award from the Penn State College of Engineering. He co-chairs the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Young Members Group program committee, and is a member of the executive committee for both the ANS Materials Science and Technology Division and the Fusion Energy Division, as well as a member of the ANS Technical Journals Committee.

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