Tatsuya Sakurahara

Dr. Tatsuya Sakurahara is the Director of the Risk Analysis and Reliability Engineering (RARE) Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS), Swanson School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Sakurahara’s research advances risk and reliability analysis to enhance the safety and performance of complex technological systems, particularly nuclear energy systems. The goal of his work is to support risk-informed decision-making throughout the life cycle of these systems—from design and licensing to construction and operation, aimed at enabling the deployment of next-generation nuclear energy systems and other emerging technologies. His research integrates state-of-the-art simulations, systematic risk modeling, and probabilistic techniques. His expertise spans multiple aspects of risk and reliability analysis, including uncertainty quantification, probabilistic physics-of-failure simulation, human reliability analysis, decision analysis, and AI and machine learning for risk and reliability analysis. Before joining Pitt, Dr. Sakurahara was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (NPRE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Dr. Sakurahara earned his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from UIUC in 2018, and his M.S. in nuclear engineering and management (2013) and B.S. in systems engineering with a concentration in environment and energy systems (2011) from the University of Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Sakurahara is a recipient of the 2022 George Apostolakis Fellowship from the International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management. Research Interests: Civil engineering Resources engineering and extractive metallurgy Nuclear and plasma physics Human resources and industrial relations Machine learning Fluid mechanics and thermal engineering

Chen, J., & Sakurahara, T. (2026). Bayesian network-based surrogate model for physical simulation in probabilistic risk assessment of nuclear power plants. ANNALS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY , 226.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111869 . Albati, M., Sakurahara, T., Reihani, S., Kee, E., Yang, J., von Thaden, T., Kesler, R., Masoud, F., & Mohaghegh, Z. (2025). Uncertainty-Based Validation Methodology and Experimental Analysis for External Control Room Human Performance Simulation: Application to Fire Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Nuclear Power Plants. NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING , 199(3), 445-464.Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.1080/00295639.2024.2366735 . Alkhatib, S., Sakurahara, T., Reihani, S., & Mohaghegh, Z. (2025). A systematic decision-making methodology to formalize the selection of d