Zahra Mohaghegh

For More Information

• Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory

Education

• University of Maryland at College Park, PhD, Reliability Engineering, 2007
• University of Maryland at College Park, MS, Reliability Engineering, 2006

Biography

Zahra Mohaghegh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She is also an affiliate to Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, School of Information Sciences, and the Illinois Informatics Institute at UIUC. She is the director of the Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory at UIUC, focusing on the advancement of risk science and applications for the safety of complex technological systems such as commercial nuclear power plants and advanced reactors, civil aviation, and oil industries. She has conducted research on probabilistic risk assessment, probabilistic physics-of-failure analysis, uncertainty analysis, human-system reliability modeling, risk-informed trustworthiness evaluation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based automation technologies, and risk-informed decision-making & regulation. Dr. Mohaghegh led Risk Management focus area of the Department of Energy review panel for the Carbon Free Power Project which will be the first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States. She served as a member of the Committee on “Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology” of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She is currently serving as a member of the Community of Experts on the “Implementation of Improvements to the Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology”, and a member of Committee on "Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance Examination Program for Gas Carriers” of the U.S. National Academies. Her research has been supported by grant awards from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Federal Aviation Administration, nuclear power industry, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Mohaghegh received the Zonta International Award for conducting aviation safety research; the George Apostolakis Award in risk assessment; the College of Engineering at Illinois Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research; and the American Nuclear Society Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women’s Achievement Award for her pioneering in the introduction of human and organizational factors into the risk analysis of socio-technical systems in nuclear and other high-risk industries. Dr. Mohaghegh is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM) and a member of the Nuclear Education, Skills, and Technology (NEST) Small Modula Reactor (SMR) Project of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA). She served as the Technical Chair for the 2013 American Nuclear Society Risk Management topical meeting; the Academic Chair for the 2017 International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2017); the Senior Advisory Board Member for the PSA 2021 and PSA 2023; and a reviewer of a consensus study report of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on Technical Feasibility of a Wheelchair Securement Concept for Airline Travel. She is currently the General Chair for 2023 Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management International Topical Meeting on “Risk Analysis and Artificial Intelligence.”

Academic Positions

• 2020 - Present, Associate Professor, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 2015 - Present, Part-time Faculty, Beckman Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 2014 - Present, Faculty Affiliate, Illinois Informatics Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 2014 - Present, Faculty Affiliate, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 2013 - 2020, Assistant Professor, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Other Professional Employment

• Leader, Risk Management focus area, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) review panel of the Carbon Free Power Project for the first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States, April 2023–July 2023
• May 2023-May 2024, Member of the Community of Experts on the “Implementation of Improvements to the Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology” of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC
• November 2022-April 2024, Member of the Committee on "Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance Examination Program for Gas Carriers” of U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC
• Invited member, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA), Nuclear Education, Skills, and Technology (NEST) Small Mpdular Reactor (SMR) Project, 2022- present
• May 2021-August 2022, Member of the Committee on “Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology (TARAM)” of U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC
• Invited member, Board of Directors, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), 2020-present.
• 2010 - 2013, Founder & Principal Research Scientist, Soteria Consultants, LLC, Boston, MA

Resident Instruction

• NPRE 200: Math for Nuclear Engineers, Fall Semesters
• NPRE 561: Advanced Risk Analysis for Technological Systems, Spring Semesters
• NPRE 461: Probabilistic Risk Assessment, Fall Semesters

Short Courses

• November 2021, Instructor, half-day virtual Workshop on "Risk-informed Methodologies for Advanced Reactors: Needs, Challenges, and Case Study", 2021 International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis
• March 2015, Instructor, One-week Workshop on Risk-Informed Regulation & Safety Culture, U.S. – China Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technologies (PUNT) Program, Department of Energy, Shenzhen, China
• July 2011, Instructor, One-day Course on Risk Management, Nuclear Energy Institute-US Women in Nuclear (WIN) Conference, St. Louis, MO

Research Interests

• Methodological areas: Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), probabilistic physics-of-failure analysis, human-systems reliability modeling, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for risk analysis, uncertainty quantification and validation, and risk-informed regulation and policy making for technological systems
• Applications: advancing safety, profitability, risk-informed regulation & policy making for complex technological systems such as commercial nuclear power plants, advanced reactors, civil aviation, and oil industries.

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Original Editions)

• Evaluation of the Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology, National Academies, 2022
• International Atomic Energy Agency, Technical Insights from Benchmarking Different Methods for Predicting Pipe Failure Rates in Water Cooled Reactors, IAEA-TECDOC No. 1988, 2021.

Selected Articles in Journals

• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Probabilistic Validation: Computational Platform and Application to Fire Pra of Nuclear Power Plants, ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part B
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, "Probabilistic Validation: Theoretical Foundation and Methodological Platform" (In Press), ASCE-ASME J Risk and Uncert in Engrg Sys Part B Mech Engrg, (2023).
• J. Yang, J. Kim, P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, C. Blake, Z. Mohaghegh, Uncertainty analysis on support vector machine for measuring organizational factors in probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants, Progress in Nuclear Energy, Volume 153, November 2022, 104411
• K. Heckmann, D.-H. Ahn, J. Beal, W.-C. Cheng, X. Duan, T. Jevremovic, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, B. Lydell, S. Reihani, T. Sakurahara, and M. Wang, Estimation of Pipe Failure Frequencies in the Absence of Operational Experience Data: A Pilot Study, Nuclear Engineering and Design, Vol. 398, 2022.
• W.-C. Cheng, J. Beal, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Modeling Interconnections of Safety and Financial Performance of Nuclear Power Plants, Part 3: Spatiotemporal Probabilistic Physics-of-Failure Analysis and Its Connection to Safety and Financial Performance; Progress in Nuclear Energy, (2022)
• J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, A discourse on the incorporation of organizational factors into probabilistic risk assessment: key questions & categorical review, Risk Analysis, Vol. 40, Is. 6, (2020)
• G. Schumock, S. Zhang, P. Farshadmanesh, J.G. Owens, N. Kasza, J. Stearns, T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, Integrated risk-informed design (I-RID) methodological framework and computational application for FLEX equipment storage buildings of nuclear power plants, Progress in Nuclear Energy, Vol. 120, (2020)
• J. Pence, P. Farshadmanesh, J. Kim, C. Blake, Z. Mohaghegh, Data-theoretic approach for socio-technical risk analysis: text mining licensee event reports of U.S. nuclear power plants, Safety Science, Vol. 124, Is. Virtual Special Issue: Safety Analytics, (2020)
• W.C. Cheng, T. Sakurahara, S. Zhang, P. Farshadmanesh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, K. Heckmann, J. Sievers, B. Lydell, C. Zammali, X.-X. Yuan, X. Duan, R. Alzbutas, G.-G. Lee, J.A. Karim, V. Morozov, C. Takasugi, T. Jevremovic, Review and categorization of existing studies on the estimation of probabilistic failure metrics for reactor coolant pressure boundary piping and steam generator tubes in nuclear power plants, Progress in Nuclear Energy, Vol. 118 (2020)
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, Human reliability analysis (HRA)-based method for manual fire suppression analysis in an integrated probabilistic risk assessment, SCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems: Part B. Mechanical Engineering, Special Issue on Human Performance & Decision-making in Complex Industrial Environments, Vol. 6, Is. 1, (2020)
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Spatiotemporal integration of an agent-based first responder performance model with a fire hazard propagation model for probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants, SCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems: Part B. Mechanical Engineering, Special Issue on Human Performance & Decision-making in Complex Industrial Environments, Vol. 6, Is. 1, (2020)
• T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Global importance measure methodology for integrated probabilistic risk assessment frameworks, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability, (2019)
• T. Sakurahara, N. O'Shea, W.-C. Cheng, S. Zhang, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Integrating renewal process modeling with probabilistic physics-of-failure: Application for estimation of loss of coolant accident (LOCA) frequencies in nuclear power plants, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 190, (2019)
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, J. Pence, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, An algorithm for enhancing spatiotemporal resolution of probabilistic risk assessment to address emergent safety concerns in nuclear power plants, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 185, pp. 405-428, (2019)
• J. Pence, T. Sakurahara, X. Zhu, Z. Mohaghegh, M. Ertem, C. Ostroff, E. Kee, Data-theoretic methodology and computational platform to quantify organizational factors in socio-technical risk analysis, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 185, pp. 240-260, (2019)
• T. Sakurahara, G. Schumock, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Simulation-informed probabilistic methodology for common cause failure analysis, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 185, pp. 84-99, (2019)
• P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Shake-RoverD framework for nuclear power plants: A streamlined approach for seismic risk assessment, Nuclear Technology, Vol. 205, Is. 3, pp. 442-463, (2019)
• J. Pence, I. Miller, T. Sakurahara, J. Whitacre, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, GIS-based integration of social vulnerability and level 3 probabilistic risk assessment to advance emergency preparedness, planning, and response for severe nuclear power plant accidents, Risk Analysis, Vol. 39, Is. 6, pp. 1262-1280, (2018)
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Methodological and practical comparison of integrated probabilistic risk assessment (I-PRA) with the existing fire PRA of nuclear power plants, Nuclear Technology, Vol. 204, Is. 3, pp. 354-377, (2018)
• J. Pence, M. Abolhelm, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, M. Ertem, E. Kee, Methodology to evaluate the monetary benefit of probabilistic risk assessment by modeling the net value of risk-informed applications at nuclear power plants, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 175, pp. 171-182, (2018)
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, M. Brandyberry, S. Rodgers, An integrated methodology for spatio-temporal incorporation of underlying failure mechanisms into fire probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 169, pp. 242-257, (2018)
• E. Kee, J. Hasenbein, A. Zolan, P. Grissom, S. Reihani, Z. Mohaghegh, F. Yilmaz, B. Letellier, V. Moiseytseva, R. Vaghetto, D. Imbaratto, T. Sakurahara, RoverD: Use of test data in GSI-191 risk assessment, Nuclear Technology, Vol. 196, Is. 2, pp. 270-291, (2016)
• Z. Mohaghegh, R. Kazemi, A. Mosleh, Incorporating organizational factors into probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) of complex socio-technical systems: A hybrid technique formalization, Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Vol. 94, Is. 5, pp. 1000-1018, (2009)
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, Incorporating organizational factors into probabilistic risk assessment of complex socio-technical systems: principles and theoretical foundations, Safety Science, Vol. 47, Is. 8, pp. 1139-1158, (2009)
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, Measurement techniques for organizational safety causal models: Characterization and suggestions for enhancements, Safety Science, Vol. 47, Is. 10, pp. 1398-1409, (2009)

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• Morasca, M., S. Fargusson, B. Scott, H. Bui, P. Farshadmanesh, and Z. Mohaghegh. "The Incorporation of Digital Twin Models into Maintenance Operations in Nuclear Power Plants." 2023 American Nuclear Society student conference, 2023
• J. Beal, W.-C. Cheng, P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, and Z. Mohaghegh, A Systematic Enterprise Risk Management Framework for Modeling the Interactions of Safety and Financial Performance in Nuclear Power Plants, Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16), Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, “Risk-informed Analysis for Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors: Pipe Reliability Case Study and Lessons Learned,” Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16) Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, “Probabilistic Validation Methodology for Probabilistic Risk Assessment,” Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16), Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• W.C. Cheng, S. Reihani, T. Sakurahara, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, “Spatiotemporal Probabilistic Physics-of-Failure Analysis in Modeling Interconnections of Safety and Financial Performance of Nuclear Power Plants,” American Nuclear Society (ANS) 2022 Student Conference, Urbana, IL, 2022.
• T. Sakurahara, S. Alkhatib, M. Albati, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, T.L.v. Thaden, R. Kesler, F. Masoud, K. Kaspar, B. Ratté, M.A. Billings, “Academia-Industry Collaboration to Advance Fire Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Nuclear Power Plants,” Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16), Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• A. Roy, P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Managing Unexpected Failures of Nuclear Power Plants by Incorporating Organizational Factors into Probabilistic Risk Assessment, Proceedings of the 2021 ANS International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2021), Virtual Conference, 2021.
• S. Alkhatib, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, B. Ratte, Z. Mohaghegh, I-PRA Risk- and Cost-Informed Decision-Making Algorithm for Nuclear Power Plants, Proceedings of the 2021 ANS International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2021), Virtual Conference, 2021.
• S. Alkhatib, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, B. Ratte, K. Kaspar, M.A. Billings, S. Hunt, Methodological and Computational Developments for Fire Scenario Selection and Analysis in Fire PRA of Nuclear Power Plants, Proceedings of the 2021 ANS International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2021), Virtual Conference, 2021.
• K. Shimada, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, Z. Mohaghegh, Integration of evacuation simulation with a Level 3 PRA code for nuclear power plants, Proceedings of the 2020 Asian Symposium on Risk Assessment and Management Conference (ASRAM 2020), Online Virtual Conference, 2020
• T. Sakurahara, H. Bui, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Enhancing realism in fire probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants, Proceeding of the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL) and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM) Conference, Venice, Italy, 2020
• J. Beal, T. Sakurahara, E. Kee, S. Reihani, Z. Mohaghegh, An algorithm for risk-informed analysis of advanced reactors with a case study of pipe failure rate estimation, Proceeding of the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL) and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM) Conference, Venice, Italy, 2020
• J. Beal, T. Sakurahara, E. Kee, S. Reihani, Z. Mohaghegh, Integrated enterprise risk management to synchronize safety and profitability analysis for nuclear power plants. In: Transactions of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, Chicago, IL, 2020
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, J. Biersdorf, Z. Mohaghegh, I-PRA uncertainty importance ranking to enhance fire pra realism for nuclear power plants. In: Transactions of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, Chicago, IL, 2020
• W.-C. Cheng, J. Beal, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Integrated probabilistic physics of failure methodology to estimate pipe failure rates for risk-informed analysis of advanced reactors. In: Transactions of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, Chicago, IL, 2020
• S. Alkhatib, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, B. Ratte, Z. Mohaghegh, Academia-industry collaboration to advance screening processes in fire pra of nuclear power plants, Proceeding of the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL) and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM) Conference, Venice, Italy, 2020
• P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Risk-informed analysis of nuclear power plant FLEX storage building, Proceeding of the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference (ESREL) and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM) Conference, Venice, Italy, 2020
• J. Yang, P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, J. Pence, S. Reihani, C. Blake, Z. Mohaghegh, Equipping machine learning with uncertainty quantification to update probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants using NRC licensee event reports. In: Transactions of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, Chicago, IL, 2020
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, J. Biersdorf, Z. Mohaghegh, Integrated Probabilistic Risk Assessment (I-PRA) Importance Ranking for Fire PRA of Nuclear Power Plants. In: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting and Technology Expo, Washington DC, USA, 2019
• J. Beal, T. Sakurahara, J. Pence, P. Farshadmanesh, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, Coupling degradation and maintenance to model safety risk and financial risk under an integrated enterprise risk management methodology for nuclear power plants, The 25th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology (SMiRT 25), Charlotte, NC, 2019
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Modeling the interface of manual fire protection actions with fire progression in fire probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• H. Bui, J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Spatio-temporal socio-technical risk analysis methodology: An application in emergency response, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017 [Scopus Citations: 10]
• W.C. Cheng, C. Ding, N. O'Shea, T. Sakurahara, G. Schumock, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Global sensitivity analysis to rank parameters of stress corrosion cracking in the spatio-temporal probabilistic model of loss-of-coolant accident frequencies, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• T. Sakurahara, G. Schumock, T. Murase, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Spatio-temporal probabilistic methodology and computational platform for common cause failure modeling in risk analysis, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Global importance measure methodology for integrated probabilistic risk assessment, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017 [Scopus Citations: 10]
• J. Pence, Y. Sun, X. Zhu, Z. Mohaghegh, C. Ostroff, E. Kee, Data-theoretic methodology and computational platform for the quantification of organizational mechanisms in probabilistic risk assessment, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, J. Pence, Z. Gu, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, M. Wortman, E. Kee, V. Moiseytseva, D. Johnson, Protective systems: Definitions and terms in the regulated risk assessment setting, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, W.C. Cheng, T. Crook, R. Vaghetto, M. Wortman, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, D. Munoz, D. Johnson, W. Schulz, F. Yilmaz, V. Moiseytseva, Protective systems: An application of regulatory guidance for ECCS sump performance, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• T. Sakurahara, H.B. Hoang, J. Pence, W.C. Cheng, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, S. Reihani, M. Wortman, V. Moiseytseva, F. Yilmaz, D. Johnson, Protective systems: Possible extensions to the RoverD method, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2017, American Nuclear Society, Pittsburgh, PA, Sept. 24-28, 2017
• H. Bui, J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, Spatio-temporal socio-technical risk analysis methodology for emergency response, Proceedings of 13th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM 13), International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Seoul, Korea, Oct. 2-7, 2016
• N. O'Shea, Z. Mohaghegh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Estimating loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) frequencies via spatio-temporal methodology, Proceedings of 13th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM 13), International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Seoul, Korea, Oct. 2-7, 2016
• N. O'Shea, Z. Mohaghegh, Spatio-temporal methodology for estimating loss-of-coolant accident frequencies in the risk-informed resolution of generic safety issue 191, Proceedings of 2016 Student Conference, American Nuclear Society, Madison, WI, Mar. 31 - Apr. 3, 2016
• T. Sakurahara, S.A. Reihani, Z. Mohaghegh, M. Brandyberry, E. Kee, S. Rodgers, M.A. Billings, D. Johnson, Integrated PRA methodology to advance fire risk modeling for nuclear power plants, Proceedings of Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems: ESREL 2015, CRC Press, Zürich, Switzerland, Sept. 7-10, 2015 [Scopus Citations: 11]
• I. Miller, J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, J. Whitacre, E. Kee, Using GIS to integrate social factors with level 3 PRA for emergency response, Proceedings of Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems: ESREL 2015, CRC Press, Zürich, Switzerland, Sept. 7-10, 2015
• J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, Risk-informed emergency response via spatio-temporal socio-technical risk analysis, Proceedings of Safety and Reliability of Complex Engineered Systems: ESREL 2015, CRC Press, Zürich, Switzerland, Sept. 7-10, 2015
• N. O'Shea, Z. Mohaghegh, S.A. Reihani, E. Kee, K. Fleming, B. Lydell, Analyzing non-piping location-specific LOCA frequency for risk-informed resolution of generic safety issue 191, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2015, American Nuclear Society, Sun Valley, ID, April 26-30, 2015
• J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, C. Ostroff, V. Dang, E. Kee, R. Hubenak, M.A. Billings, Quantifying organizational factors in human reliability analysis using the big data-theoretic algorithm, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2015, American Nuclear Society, Sun Valley, ID, April 26-30, 2015 [Scopus Citations: 16]
• J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, On the incorporation of spatio-temporal dimensions into socio-technical risk analysis, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis, PSA 2015, American Nuclear Society, Sun Valley, ID, April 26-30, 2015 [Scopus Citations: 10]
• N. O'Shea, J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, Physics of failure, predictive modeling & data analytics for LOCA frequency, Proceedings of 2015 Annual Reliability and Maintainability Symposium (RAMS), IEEE, Palm Harbor, FL, Jan. 26-29, 2015
• J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, C. Ostroff, E. Kee, F. Yilmaz, R. Grantom, D. Johnson, Toward monitoring organizational safety indicators by integrating probabilistic risk assessment, socio-technical systems theory, and big data analytics, Proceedings of PSAM 2014 - Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Honolulu, HI, June 22-27, 2014 [Google Scholar Citations: 15]
• M. Abolhelm, J. Pence, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, Toward demonstrating the monetary value of probabilistic risk assessment for nuclear power plants, Proceedings of PSAM 2014 - Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Honolulu, HI, June 22-27, 2014
• T. Sakurahara, S.A. Reihani, Z. Mohaghegh, M. Brandyberry, E. Kee, D. Johnson, S. Rodgers, M.A. Billings, Developing a new fire PRA framework by integrating probabilistic risk assessment with a fire simulation module, Proceedings of PSAM 2014 - Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Honolulu, HI, June 22-27, 2014 [Scopus Citations: 10]
• T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, M. Ertem, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, Analyzing importance measure methodologies for integrated probabilistic risk assessment in nuclear power plants, Proceedings of PSAM 2014 - Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Honolulu, HI, June 22-27, 2014 [Scopus Citations: 13]
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, S. Rodgers, M. Brandyberry, R. Kazemi, S. Reihani, A new integrated framework to advance fire probabilistic risk analysis of nuclear power plants, Proceedings of Risk Management for Complex Socio-Technical Systems [RM4CSS], American Nuclear Society, Washington, DC, November 10-14, 2013
• E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, R. Kazemi, S. Reihani, B. Letellier, R. Grantom, Risk-informed decision making: Application in nuclear power plant design & operation, Proceedings of Risk Management for Complex Socio-Technical Systems [RM4CSS], American Nuclear Society, Washington, DC, November 10-14, 2013
• A. Elbanna, Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, S. Reihani, R. Kazemi, S. Rodgers, Towards physics-based seismic PRA, Proceedings of Risk Management for Complex Socio-Technical Systems [RM4CSS], American Nuclear Society, Washington, DC, November 10-14, 2013
• Z. Mohaghegh, E. Kee, S. Reihani, R. Kazemi, D. Johnson, R. Grantom, K. Fleming, T. Sande, B. Letellier, G. Zigler, D. Morton, J. Tejada, K. Howe, J. Leavitt, Y. Hassan, R. Vaghetto, S. Lee, S. Blossom, Risk-informed resolution of generic safety issue 191, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis 2013, PSA 2013, American Nuclear Society, Columbia, SC, Sept. 22-27, 2013 [Scopus Citations: 32]
• T. Sande, G. Zigler, E. Kee, B. Letellier, R. Grantom, Z. Mohaghegh, The benefits of using a risk-informed approach to resolving GSI-191, Proceedings of International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Anaheim, CA, July 30-Aug. 3, 2012
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, M. Modarres, Hybrid incorporation of physical & social failure mechanisms into probabilistic risk assessment, Proceedings of 11th International Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference and the Annual European Safety and Reliability Conference 2012, PSAM11 ESREL 2012, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Helsinki, Finland, June 25-29, 2012
• Z. Mohaghegh, M. Modarres, A probabilistic physics-of-failure approach to common cause failures in reliability assessment of structures and components, Proceedings of Embedded Topical Meeting: 1st ANS SMR Conference and Young Professionals Congress, American Nuclear Society, Washington, DC, Oct. 30-Nov. 3, 2011
• Z. Mohaghegh, M. Modarres, A. Christou, Physics-based common cause failure modeling in probabilistic risk analysis: A mechanistic perspective, Proceedings of ASME 2011 Power Conference collocated with JSME ICOPE 2011, ASME, Denver, CO, July 12-14, 2011 [Scopus Citations: 10]
• Z. Mohaghegh, M. Modarres, Common cause failure modeling using probabilistic physics-of-failure (POF) analysis: A mechanistic approach, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2011), American Nuclear Society, Wilmington, NC, March 13-17, 2011
• Z. Mohaghegh, Development of an aviation safety causal model using socio-technical risk analysis (SoTeRiA), Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management 2010, PSAM 2010, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Seattle, WA, June 7-11, 2010
• Z. Mohaghegh, Combining system dynamics and Bayesian belief networks for socio-technical risk analysis, Proceedings of 2010 IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics, IEEE, Vancouver, BC, Canada, May 23-26, 2010 [Google Scholar Citations: 16]
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, Modeling organizational influences for new-generation probabilistic risk analysis of technical systems, Proceedings of Embedded Topical Meeting: Risk Management---For Tomorrow's Challenges, American Nuclear Society, Washington, DC, Nov. 15-19, 2009
• Z. Mohaghegh, Modeling emergent behavior for socio-technical probabilistic risk assessment, Proceedings of Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies (NPIC&HMIT 2009), American Nuclear Society, Knoxville, TN, April 5-9, 2009
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, Theoretical foundations for building organizational safety models for PRA applications, Proceedings of International Topical Meeting on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2008), American Nuclear Society, Knoxville, TN, Sept. 7-11, 2008
• Z. Mohaghegh, R. Kazemi, A. Mosleh, A hybrid technique for organizational safety risk analysis, Proceedings of 9th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management 2008, PSAM 2008, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), Hong Kong, China, May 18-23, 2008
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, Multi-dimensional measurement perspective in modeling organizational safety risk, Proceedings of European Safety and Reliability Conference 2007, ESREL 2007 - Risk, Reliability and Societal Safety, Taylor & Francis Group, Stavanger, Norway, June 25-27, 2007
• Z. Mohaghegh, A. Mosleh, A causal modeling framework for assessing organizational factors and their impacts on safety performance, Proceedings of 8th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management, PSAM 2006, International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), New Orleans, LA, May 14-18, 2006

Abstracts (in print or accepted)

• H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, E. Kee, and Z. Mohaghegh, Probabilistic Validation Methodology for Probabilistic Risk Assessment, Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16), Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• T. Sakurahara, S. Alkhatib, M. Albati, S. Reihani, E. Kee, Z. Mohaghegh, T.L.v. Thaden, R. Kesler, F. Masoud, K. Kaspar, B. Ratté, and M.A. Billings, Academia-Industry Collaboration to Advance Fire Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Nuclear Power Plants, Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16), Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• T. Sakurahara, Z. Mohaghegh, Risk-informed Analysis for Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors: Pipe Reliability Case Study and Lessons Learned. Proceedings of the 16th Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management Conference (PSAM 16) Honolulu, HI, 2022.
• Pence, J., J. Yang, P. Farshadmanesh, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, and Z. Mohaghegh. (2020). "Theory-Guided Machine Learning for Licensee Event Reports of U.S. Nuclear Power Plants to Quantify Organizational Factors in Probabilistic Risk Assessment." The 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference, The 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference (ESREL 2020 PSAM 15). Venice, Italy.

Magazine Articles

• Zahra Mohaghegh, “Lighting the path for next-generation PRA leaders in nuclear engineering,” Leaders Article in the September Issue of American Nuclear Society (ANS) Nuclear News, 2021.

Reports

• International Atomic Energy Agency, “Methodologies for Assessing Pipe Failure Rates in Advanced Water Cooled Reactors,” IAEA Nuclear Energy Series (NES) No.NR-T-2.16 [IAEA Preprint], 2022,
• Z. Mohaghegh, T. Sakurahara, Alkhatib, S., Reihani, S. Kee, E. “Integrated Fire Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) Modeling in Support of Operational Efficiency: Final Report under review”; Technical Report, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Energy, under Award Number DE-NE0008856. Mar. 2022
• INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Technical Insights from Benchmarking Different Methods for Predicting Pipe Failure Rates in Water Cooled Reactors, TECDOC Series, 2021
• Z. Mohaghegh, T. Sakurahara, J. Beal, W.-C. Cheng, P. Farshadmanesh, S. Reihani, E. Kee, A. Rowell, and F. Yilmaz, Systematic Enterprise Risk Management by Integrating the RISMC Toolkit and Cost-Benefit Analysis (Final Report), 2021.
• J. Biersdorf, H. Bui, T. Sakurahara, S. Reihani, C. LaFleur, D. Luxat, S. Prescott, Z. Mohaghegh, Risk importance ranking of fire data parameters to enhance fire PRA model realism, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID, 2020

Professional Societies

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Member (2007 - Present)
• Society for Risk Analysis, Member (2007 - Present)
• American Nuclear Society, Member (2009 - Present)
• International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM), member of the Board of Directors ( 2020- Present)

Service to Federal and State Government

• Member of Review Panel; Led the Risk Management focus area of the Department of Energy (DOE) review panel of the Carbon Free Power Project for the first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) plant to begin operation in the United States (April 2023–July 2023)
• Member of Community of Experts on “The Implementation of Improvements to the Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology” of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine ( May 2023-May 2024)
• Member of the Committee on Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Coast Guard Certificate of Compliance Examination Program of the US. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (October 2022, January 2024)
• Member of the Committee on Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (August 2021-August 2022)

Other Outside Service

• Member of the Nuclear Education, Skills, and Technology (NEST) Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Project of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA) (January 2022- present)

Teaching Honors

• Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2016)

Research Honors

• Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women's Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society (2016)
• Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2015)
• The George Apostolakis Fellowship in Risk Assessment (2012)
• Zonta International Amelia Earhart Award (2007)

Public Service Honors

• Recognition for Excellence as Technical Chair of Risk Management Topical Meeting from the American Nuclear Society (2013)