Advisor; Radiochemist
Advisor; Radiochemist

Biography

Dr. Patricia Paviet has worked as a radiochemist for more than 25 years, investigating the speciation and behavior of radionuclides and actinides under industrial reprocessing and nuclear repository conditions. She joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in October 2018 as Group Leader of the Radiological Materials Group in the Nuclear Sciences Division of the Energy and Environment Directorate—leading 50 staff who work primarily on the development of advanced glass, ceramics, and cemented waste forms. She also leads a team of 25 researchers from across multiple PNNL mission areas to study molten salt chemistry as applied to Gen IV Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) systems. She transitioned to an Advisor role in 2023.

In February 2021, Dr. Paviet was named the National Technical Director for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy’s MSR Program.

Prior to PNNL, she was with the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy as the Director of the Office of Materials and Chemical Technologies (NE-43), where she was responsible for overseeing R&D activities related to the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Dr. Paviet previously worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and New Brunswick Laboratory. She also holds industry experience as the chemistry and radiochemistry safety lead at AREVA NP (now Framatome) on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility.

Dr. Paviet has taught nuclear waste management, radiochemistry, and nuclear fuel reprocessing courses at Idaho State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Additionally, she spent four years at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, where her research focused on repository sciences.

Originally from France, Dr. Paviet received her PhD in radiochemistry from the University Paris XI, and her MS and BS degrees in chemistry from the University Nice-Sophia Antipolis. She holds three patents. She has authored or co-authored 30 publications and 30 technical reports, as well as book chapters titled “Nuclear fuel reprocessing” and “Integrated repository science for the long-term behavior prediction of nuclear waste disposal.”

Dr. Paviet is committed to participating in international professional societies and serves as Chair of the Gen IV International Forum’s Education and Training Working Group. Dr. Paviet has been a member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) since 1997, serves on the ANS International Committee, previously served on the ANS Board of Directors, and was recipient of the ANS 2019 Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division’s Significant Contribution AwardShe also has been a member of the American Chemical Society since 1997 and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers since 2010.

Disciplines and Skills

  • Education
  • Nuclear energy
  • Nuclear fuel cycle
  • Nuclear waste repositories
  • Radiochemistry
  • Recycling
  • Spent nuclear fuel
  • Teaching

Education

  • PhD, Radiochemistry, University Paris IX
  • MS, Chemistry, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis
  • BS, Chemistry, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • American Chemical Society
  • American Nuclear Society (International Committee, Executive Committee of the Fuel Cycle Waste Management Division from 2020-2023, past board director)
  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Nuclear Energy Division, ICONE conference)
  • Nuclear Science, editorial board member (2021)

Awards and Recognitions

  • American Nuclear Society, 2019, Significant Contribution Award, Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division

Patents

  • Raymond, P. Paviet, Patent FR 93-783, “Selective extraction of Cesium using Crown Ethers and tetraphenylborate.
  • Raymond, P. Paviet, Patent FR 93-785, “Selective extraction of Iodine using Crown Ethers and Palladium.
  • Riddle Catherine, Paviet Patricia, “Reduction-Oxidation of Actinides Extraction Process (ROANEX) for used Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing.” Patent 10,297,355 B1, 21 May 2019

Publications

Selected Publications and Presentations
  • Nguyen M, V Glezakou, JM Lonergan, BK McNamara, PD Paviet, and RJ Rousseau, "Ab initio Molecular Dynamics Assessment of Thermodynamic and Transport Properties in (K,Li)Cl and (K, Na)Cl Molten Salt Mixtures." Journal of Molecular Liquids, Vol 326, 115262, (2021) PNNL-SA-157425.
  • Patricia Paviet, Thomas Hartmann, Amanda Lines, Sam Bryan, Heather Felmy, Vanda Glezakou, Manh Thong Nguyen, Adan Medina, Shirmir Branch, “Corrosion of Molten Salt Containment Alloys – Fundamental Mechanisms for Corrosion Control and Monitoring,” Prepared for DOE, MRWFD Campaign, PNNL 30379, September 2020.
  • Patricia Paviet, “Why is the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle important for greenhouse gas reduction?” Paper #162, IAEA International Conference on the Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power, 7-11 October 2019, Vienna, Austria.
  • Patricia Paviet, 47th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress, Invited Lecture, “Molten Salt Reactor Waste and Effluent Management Strategies.” Paris, France (7-12 July 2019).
  • Kimberly Gray, John Vienna, Patricia Paviet, “Overview of the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Waste Form Development,” Paper # 81017, Proceedings for the International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-26 ) conference, London, UK, July 22-26, 2018.

  • James C. Bresee, Patricia D. Paviet, Michael A. Reim, “Exploring the Accountability Aspects of the CoDCon Project,” Actinide Separation Conference, 42nd Actinide Separations Conference, May 21-24 2018, Charleston, SC, USA.
  • Terry Todd, Patricia Paviet, “Innovative Options for Waste Burden Minimization in the United States,” Paper #IA005, Proceedings of the Global 2017 Conference, Seoul, ROK, 24-28 September 2017.

  • Gregg Lumetta, James Bresee, Patricia Paviet, Michael Miller, and Terry Todd, “The Alliance of Advanced Process Control and Accountability – A Future Safeguards-By-Design Tool,” Proceedings of the 58th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM 2017) conference, Indian Wells, CA, 16-20 June 2017, 3:1645-1654, https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1440663.

  • Patricia Paviet , Pavel Alekseev, Concetta Fazio, Massimiliano Fratoni, Il Swoon Hwang, John Kelly, Xiaojing Liu, Takatsugu Mihara, Konstantin Mikityuk, Nolitha Mpoza, Youngmi Nam, Grace Pynn, Claude Renault, Jun Sun, “GEN IV Education and Training Initiative via Public Webinars,” Proc. of International Conference on Fast Reactors and Related Fuel Cycles: Next Generation Nuclear Systems for Sustainable Development (FR17), Yekaterinburg, Russia, IAEA-CN-245-13, International Atomic Energy Agency, June 2017 (https://conferences.iaea.org/indico/event/126/session/54/contribution/9).
  • Catherine Riddle, Kenneth Czerwinski, Eunja Kim, Patricia Paviet, Philippe F. Weck, Frederic Poineau, Steven Conradson, “Characterization of Pentavalent and Hexavalent Americium Complexes in Nitric acid using X-ray Absorption Fine Structure Spectroscopy and First-Principles Modeling,” Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 309, pp1087–1095 (2016), DOI: 10.1007/s10967-016-4704-x.

 

Book Chapters                    
  • P Paviet-Hartmann, M Lineberry, R Benedict, Chap 11: Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing, in “Nuclear Engineering Handbook,” Ed. K. Kok, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis, pp 315-365, June 2009.
  • P Paviet-Hartmann, T Hartmann, Chapter: Integrated repository science for the long-term prediction of nuclear waste disposal, in “Nuclear Energy and the Environment,” Eds. Chien Wai and Bruce Mincher, ACS Symposium Series 1046, Dec 2010.
  • P Paviet, M Simpson, Chap 14: Nuclear Fuel Recycling, in “Nuclear Engineering Handbook,” Second Edition, Ed. K. Kok, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis, October 2016