Team
dr. Tanja Goričanec
dr. Tanja Goričanec is a postdoctoral research assistant at the Reactor Physics Department of the Jožef Stefan Institute. Her work focuses on advanced computational simulations of research (e.g., TRIGA reactor in Ljubljana) and power reactors (e.g., Krško Nuclear Power Plant). Her research specializes in neutron detectors, including their measurements and response simulations.
She also leads experimental exercises at the TRIGA research reactor for students from both Slovenian and international universities.
dr. Tanja Goričanec is the leader of the project Advanced computer simulations for reactor vessel neutron damage analysis in pressurized water reactors.
dr. Marjan Kromar
Assist. Prof. Dr. Marjan Kromar is a Senior Research Counselor at the Jožef Stefan Institute, where he has been actively involved in nuclear energy research since 1982. His areas of expertise include reactor physics, nuclear reactor core design, and various safety evaluations. Over the course of his career, he has led numerous complex R&D projects, particularly those associated with the Krško Nuclear Power Plant.
Dr. Kromar has made significant contributions to several high-impact international research programs, including the Euratom EURAD and EURAD-2 initiatives, various IAEA coordinated research projects, and collaborative efforts under the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA). His work covers a broad spectrum of critical topics such as reactor fuel management, regulatory licensing support, neutron shielding analysis, spent fuel characterization, and criticality safety assessments
Benjamin Barbarič
Benjamin Barbarič received his bachelor's degree in Physics in 2020 and his master's degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2023 from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana. His master's thesis focused on the development and implementation of a method for calculating neutron activation of the reactor vessel in the Krško pressurized water nuclear power plant. Since 2023, he has been employed at the Jožef Stefan Institute, conducting research in the field of reactor physics.
prof. dr. Luka Snoj
prof. dr. Luka Snoj received his Diploma and PhD in Physics from the University of Ljubljana in 2005 and 2009. In 2010, he completed a postdoctoral position at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, focusing on neutron transport calculations for JET calibration. That same year, he became head of the TRIGA reactor at the Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI), and since 2014, he has led the Reactor Physics Division.
He actively teaches reactor and radiation physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, where he became an associate professor in 2019. He has advised many master's and PhD students. His research centers on theoretical reactor physics with applications in power and research reactors, especially Monte Carlo transport, integral and criticality experiments. He contributes regularly to OECD/NEA benchmark evaluation projects (ICSBEP and IRPhE).
dr. Dušan Ćalić
By training, Dr. Dušan Čalić is a physicist. At the Reactor Physics Department, he focuses on comprehensive reactor core design and the implementation of Monte Carlo methods, including modernization of existing deterministic codes to improve the accuracy of nuclear reactor simulations.
He specializes in pressurized water reactors and small modular reactors, where he analyzes the fuel cycle, neutron transport, and reactor kinetics.
His research aims to develop hybrid deterministic-stochastic approaches for validation of reactor simulations, improvement of operational parameter predictions, and deeper analysis of thermal and kinetic phenomena in the reactor core. His work also includes spent fuel analysis, fuel temperature modeling, and validation of new full-core simulation methodologies.
dr. Andrej Trkov
Dr. Andrej Trkov is a senior researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute and head of the Reactor Physics Division. His long career has included research roles at the Institute, work at the International Atomic Energy Agency, and leadership in reactor physics in Slovenia.
His main areas of work include reactor calculations, software development for nuclear core design of light-water reactors, and nuclear data evaluation and validation. He is also involved in the preparation of application libraries from evaluated nuclear data files and in technical support for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant.
In addition to his research work, he has been active in teaching at the University of Ljubljana and the University of Maribor.
dr. Anže Pungerčič
Dr. Anže Pungerčič began his work at the Jožef Stefan Institute with hands-on training at the TRIGA research reactor, where he later completed his master's thesis on fuel element burnup analysis.
He continued at the Reactor Physics Department and pursued doctoral studies in physics, specializing in nuclear engineering at the University of Ljubljana. His research focused on the fission matrix method for reactor core calculations, including collaboration with Virginia Tech and further development of the method for nuclear fuel burnup calculations and TRIGA reactor applications.
He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in July 2024. In addition to his main research, he has contributed to applied work for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant, international and TRIGA-related projects, and teaching activities. In January 2025, he received the Marjan Jerman Award for outstanding achievements as a teaching assistant.
Jan Malec
Jan Malec is a PhD researcher in nuclear engineering, focusing on uncertainty propagation from nuclear data to reactor physics and transient simulation results, with applications to PWRs and the Krško Nuclear Power Plant.
His work includes reactor modeling, nuclear data processing and validation, and Monte Carlo methods, with extensive use of OpenMC for core analysis and uncertainty quantification.
His experience also includes cross-section evaluation and validation for major nuclear data libraries, educational reactor models, and methodological developments in multiphysics and sensitivity analysis.
Sebastian Pleško
Sebastian Pleško is a researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute, Reactor Engineering Division. His work focuses on nuclear fuel management and computational analysis of reactor core configurations for the Krško Nuclear Power Plant.
He is the main developer of the Fuel Assembly Register (FAR) software used at NEK for tracking and analysis of fuel movements and burnup. He has also contributed to the supervision of dry fuel storage operations and participated in startup testing and refueling campaigns.
His background is in chemistry, with bachelor's and master's degrees, and he has experience in algorithm development, database design, and Monte Carlo simulations of molecular systems. He has authored and co-authored several technical reports and software documents related to nuclear fuel management and data analysis.
Anže Mihelčič
Anže Mihelčič received his bachelor's degree in Physics in 2020 and his master's degree in Nuclear Engineering in 2023 from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana.
The topic of his master's thesis was the response of a nuclear reactor operating in load-following mode. Since 2023, he has been employed as a young researcher at the Reactor Physics Department of the Jožef Stefan Institute and is also a PhD student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana.
His field of work is neutron transport calculations in the reactor core.
