Jenifer Avellaneda, Westinghouse Risk Analysis Engineer, April ‘24

Jenifer Avellaneda, Risk Analysis Engineer, Nuclear Advocate

Jenifer Avellaneda, who works to make nuclear safer as a risk analysis engineer for Westinghouse.

Meet jenifer, the woman helping nuclear to become even safer, and trailblazing paths for young women in the nuclear industry

Westinghouse risk analysis engineer and nuclear advocate Jenifer Avellaneda described herself as a “proud nerd” seeking to be the female role model in engineering and nuclear that she never had growing up in Mexico and the U.S. 

Avellaneda has been interested in nuclear technology since she was 12, looking into the benefits it could bring, and energy production as a basic need. Her advocacy career, however, took off on X/Twitter as she tried to stop the spread of misinformation about nuclear and the Russian-Ukraine war. 

As she sought potential Twitter handles, it seemed natural to fall on “Hazelnut”, the English translation of her childhood nickname “avellana” (with it’s proximity to her surname.) @NuclearHazelnut was born and Avellaneda jumped into science communication with passion. On X/Twitter she clarifies misconceptions like Zapporizhia could become a “second Chernobyl.” 

“I knew that wasn’t possible (a repeat of Chernobyl) from my position as a probabilistic risk assessment engineer. I know that right now that is not possible,” Avellaneda said. “However, there was just silence (from the nuclear industry.) So I started to do communications.” 

Natural curiosity about the world around her has always propelled Avellaneda - as a child she knew she wanted to become a scientist or at least work in the science field. She wanted to “know about the world that we lived in,” and became fascinated with concepts in physics like anti-matter. 

A professor in Mexico City took an interest in Avellaneda and encouraged her to apply for an internship with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) working in a technical cooperation program for Latin America and the Caribbean. Avellaneda took the opportunity and moved to Vienna, the headquarters of the IAEA for a year, throwing herself into the nuclear field. 

In the internship, she learned how member states interact with the IAEA and how nuclear technology projects develop. Knowing Latin culture and the Spanish language benefitted Avellandea’s capacity to work with diplomats and world leaders. The experience cemented for Avellaneda that she wanted to pursue a career in nuclear energy. 

As a risk analysis engineer at Westinghouse, currently stationed in Texas, Avellaneda is part of teams that try to predict how something can go wrong, how to mitigate this, and how to reduce the possibility of this happening. To carry out this work, Avellaneda uses probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), a systematic methodology to calculate risk. She examines the operating data to view how plants behave compared to other plants, and uses the data to calculate the risk, providing operators with the correct information to make a “risk-informed decision-making process.” According to Avellaneda, U.S. nuclear plants are 99.9% safe. She hesitates from saying 100%, she said, only because nothing is perfect. 

As a science communicator on Twitter, Avellandea tries to address blown-out fears by succinctly explaining about risk. From her experience, it is the release of radioactive material at a plant that creates a case of unreasonable fear. 

Avellaneda, a risk analysis engineer at the site of Vogtle 4, an AP 1000 reactor.

Early on, Avellaneda leaned into her training as an engineer but realized she would have to change her writing style to reach a larger audience when her mother (with no technical background) could not understand an initial draft tweet. Consciously, Avellaneda updated her style that people without a scientific background can understand. 

Several people messaged Avellaneda that her content helped them change their mind on nuclear energy. Of all of her advocacy, Avellanada said she is most proud of such messages.

To Avellaneda, Nuclear represents a brighter future. “It means an opportunity to do better. We know how to make it safe. No other industry can say they're 99% safe,” Avallenda said. “We as a society are now at a time in which we can fully take advantage of the many benefits this type of energy can bring us. And I'm not only talking about clean and safe energy 24/7 produced, but I'm also talking about all the many jobs it brings to the surrounding areas.” 

As an activist, Avellaneda has begun to travel internationally to advocate for nuclear energy. In December of 2023, she was invited as part of the Net Zero Nuclear Initiative to attend COP 28 in Dubai. The two-week global conference left her with a sense of optimism moving forward. 

“It was an incredible experience. Especially because nuclear was an active topic during that event, starting with the fact that over 20 countries pledged to triple nuclear energy by 2050,” Avellaneda said. “And that's such a very important decision and such a very important message that world leaders are sending to other countries. Like we are not the bad guys.” 

Recently, Avellaneda traveled to D.C. to participate in a panel sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) with Kyle Hill on nuclear communications, “Activating Visionaries.” The pair discussed communicating on nuclear from within (Avellaneda) and outside of (Hill) the industry. Avellaneda said that people inside the industry can be suspicious, and may not open up as much as they can with her as an internal engineer. 

During an exercise at the communication forum in D.C., most utility members said they would ignore a harsh comment if it appeared on social media. Avellaneda and Hill, however, saw such an incident as an opportunity to start a conversation. The culture of non-communication and of not sharing knowledge has motivated Avellaneda to continue her efforts. 

In April 2024, Avellaneda traveled to the University of Florida to speak with nuclear engineering students about her experience as a PRA engineer. She said she hopes to be a strong role model for young women coming up in nuclear, lamenting she never had a female engineering professor. 

“When I was little, all male role models within the industry were male. I would have loved to see a woman following her career path,” Avellaneda said. “That is something that I want to change. And I'm really looking forward to seeing the female population grow within the industry.”

Avellaneda is hopeful and was inspired by the example of Miss America 2023, Grace Stanke, “a great example of beauty and intelligence” and a nuclear engineer “setting an example for little girls.” 

Avellaneda plans to receive a master's in nuclear engineering and encourages people from the humanities with good communication, public relations, or publication skills to join the nuclear industry.