Maria Avramova
Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Director of Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP)
Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Director of Consortsium for Nuclear Power (CNP)
Coordinator of COBRA-TF (CTF) User Group
Coordinator of Nuclear Engineering Department (NED) seminars and invited lectures
Co-coordinator of Nuclear Engineering Department (NED) senior design projects

- mnavramo@ncsu.edu
- Burlington Laboratory 2107
Dr. Avramova is currently a Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Director of the Reactor Dynamics and Fuel Modeling Group (RDFMG) at North Carolina State University (NCSU). She is a University Faculty Scholar, Director of the Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP), and Coordinator of the COBRA-TF (CTF) User Group at NCSU. Dr. Avramova earned her Ph.D. degree in nuclear engineering from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 2007. Before joining PSU in January 2001, she held a research scientist position at the Institute of Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, Bulgaria. After her graduation, Dr. Avramova has held positions at PSU as a post-doctoral scholar, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering. At NCSU Dr. Avramova is a Faculty Coordinator of Nuclear Engineering Department (NED) seminars and invited lectures as well as a Co-coordinator of NED senior design projects.
Dr. Avramova is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and a Member of the ANS Thermal-Hydraulics Division Executive Committee.
Over the past years, she has led high-visibility international projects such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) / United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC) BWR Full-size Fine-mesh Bundle Test (BFBT) benchmark, the OECD-NEA/U.S.NRC PWR Subchannel and Bundle Tests (PSBT) benchmark, and the OECD-NEA/U.S. NRC Liquid Metal cooled Fast Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics (LMFR-TH) benchmark. Dr. Avramova is a Co-Chair of the Expert Group on reactor core Thermal-Hydraulics and Mechnaics (EGTHM) at OECD-NEA. She is also one of the coordinators of the OECD-NEA LWR Uncertainty Analysis in Modeling (LWR UAM) benchmark, OECD-NEA Multi-physics Pellet Cladding Mechanical Interaction (MPCMIV) benchmark, OECD-NEA Rostov-2 VVER-1000 Multi-physics Transient benchmark, and OECD-NEA TVA Watts Bar 1 Multi-physics Multi-Cycle Depletion benchmark.
Dr. Avramova has taught undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate courses in the areas of introduction to nuclear engineering, advanced reactor design, design principles of reactor systems, reactor core thermal-hydraulics and uncertainty quantification, reactor kinetics and dynamics, nuclear fuel performance, and high fidelity multi-physics nuclear reactor simulations. Dr. Avramova has advised and graduated 30 PhD students, 25 MS students, and 50 MEng students. Dr. Avramova has published more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of international conferences.
Education
Nuclear Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
Research Description
Dr. Avramova's research areas include reactor thermal-hydraulics; core design; transient and safety analysis; multi-physics and multi-scale simulations; verification and validation; and uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.
Publications
- BWR core thermal-hydraulic uncertainty and sensitivity analysis with improved bypass modeling features
- Ziyad, D., Abarca, A., & Avramova, M. (2025), NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN, 435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.113951
- Development of Serpent/CTF External Coupling for the OECD/NEA TVA-WB1 Benchmark Activities
- Albagami, T., Rouxelin, P., Abarca, A., Palmtag, S., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2025, April 27), NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, Vol. 4. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2475415
- Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis in pebble-bed reactors: A study using the High-Temperature Code Package (HCP)
- Yaseen, M., Sadek, A., Osman, W., Altahhan, M., Wu, X., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2025), ANNALS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY, 219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111428
- Uncertainty Quantification Framework for High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors Using VSOP and DAKOTA
- Delipei, G. K., Altahhan, M., Rouxelin, P., Sen, S., George, N., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2025, May 15), NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, Vol. 5. https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2025.2486901
- A Framework for Multi-Physics Modeling, Design Optimization and Uncertainty Quantification of Fast-Spectrum Liquid-Fueled Molten-Salt Reactors
- Holler, D., Bhaskar, S., Delipei, G., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2024), APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL, 14(17). https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177615
- Fuel performance code to code comparative analysis for the OECD/NEA MPCMIV benchmark
- Faure, Q., Delipei, G., Scolaro, A., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2024), NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND DESIGN, 430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2024.113685
- Investigation of Transients with Serpent using the OECD/NEA C5G7-TD Benchmark
- Fernandes, A. C. A. A., Rouxelin, P., Ivanov, K., & Avramova, M. (2024), JOINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SUPERCOMPUTING IN NUCLEAR APPLICATIONS + MONTE CARLO, SNA + MC 2024, Vol. 302. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430212004
- Challenge for the validation of high-fidelity multi-physics LWR modeling and simulation: Development of new experiments in research reactors
- Vaglio-Gaudard, C., Destouches, C., Hawari, A., Avramova, M., Ivanov, K., Valentine, T., … Hudelot, J.-P. (2023), Frontiers in Energy Research, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1110979
- Development of an efficient and improved core thermal-hydraulics predictive capability for fast reactors: Summary of research and development activities at the North Carolina state University
- Takasugi, C., Aly, A., Holler, D., Abarca, A., Beeler, B., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2023), Nuclear Engineering and Design, 412, 112474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2023.112474
- Fuel performance uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis in the presence of epistemic and aleatoric sources of uncertainties
- Faure, Q., Delipei, G., Petruzzi, A., Avramova, M., & Ivanov, K. (2023), Frontiers in Energy Research, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1112978
Grants
- Membership in Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP), Full Member
- Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.(7/01/21 - 6/30/27)
- Membership in Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP), Full Member
- Framatome(2/01/19 - 6/30/27)
- Membership in Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP) - Affiliate Member
- Tractebel Engineering S.A.(7/01/18 - 6/30/27)
- Research Activities In The Field Of Development And Coupling Cobra-tf Code Version For Research And Power Reactors.
- South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd (NESCA)(1/01/16 - 12/31/25)
- Integral Benchmark Evaluation of Zero-Power Tests and Multi-Cycle Depletion Experimental Data of TVA WB1
- US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/21 - 7/31/25)
- Membership in Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP), Affiliate Member
- Kernkraftwerk Leibstadt AG(7/01/22 - 6/30/25)
- Membership in Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP), Full Member
- General Electric (GE) -Hitachi(7/01/22 - 6/30/25)
- Membership in Consortium for Nuclear Power (CNP), Full Member
- Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC(7/01/22 - 6/30/25)
- BWXT Small Mobile Nuclear Reactor (SMNR) Program Phase 2 for North Carolina State University (NCSU)
- US Dept. of Defense (DOD)(1/12/23 - 10/31/24)
- Benchmark Evaluation of Transient Multi-Physics Experimental Data for Pellet Cladding Mechanical Interactions; CFA-20-19590
- US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(10/01/20 - 9/30/24)