Zolfaqari " Iranian Scientist of Heavy Concrete, Gamma Rays" Assassinated in Israeli Attacks

With high precision in designing nuclear systems, optimizing energy processes using artificial intelligence, and environmental studies in the field of radioactivity, he played an important role in strengthening Iran's domestic capacities. His published articles focused on topics like heavy concrete, lead slag, gamma rays, and mechanical resistance.

Zolfaqari Dariani, a professor of nuclear physics and former head of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences at Shahid Beheshti University, was assassinated on June 13, during an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear scientists.

In all of his articles, Dr. Zolfaqari collaborated with numerous researchers from Iranian universities and scientific institutions. This indicates his strong interaction with students, researchers, and domestic industry. Also, as the editor-in-chief of the quarterly journal ‘Nuclear Technology and Energy’, he played an important role in publishing scientific and technological findings related to nuclear energy.

Along with Abdolhamid Minouchehr, he was active in national and strategic projects related to the development of Iranian nuclear technology and they were active in the country's specialized nuclear committees.

Dr. Zolfaqari’s research fields range from ion source design to resistance to gamma rays

He collaborated on numerous articles, which demonstrates his broad-mindedness and scientific accuracy. These researches include:

• Design of advanced control systems (such as ion source controllers in mass spectrometers)

• Numerical analysis of the behavior of nuclear fuel rods

• Protection of the environment and humans against gamma rays using heavy concrete

• Optimization of energy processes with intelligent algorithms

• Modeling the release of radioactive pollutants into the environment

This set of researches forms the basis for the development of nuclear safety technologies, the design of radiation-resistant materials, and the optimization of the performance of nuclear reactors.

Innovation in optimization of industrial processes with artificial intelligence

One of the outstanding cases in Dr. Zolfaqari's scientific activities was the use of artificial neural networks and meta-heuristic algorithms like gravitational search (GSA) in the optimization of industrial processes. The paper titled ‘Optimization of Desalination Connection to Kerman Combined Cycle Power Plant’ presented at the International Conference on Chemical and Petroleum Engineering is an example of the practical application of these methods in the energy industry.

Design of high-precision nuclear systems

In an article in the journal ‘Nuclear Sciences and Technologies’, he designed and built an ion source controller system that forms the basis of the operation of mass spectrometers. This work demonstrates his expertise in the development of high-precision electronic and nuclear systems.

Also, in the field of nuclear fuel simulation, he worked on numerical analysis of the behavior of UO₂ fuel rods, which contributed significantly to improving the safety and performance of nuclear reactors.

Environmental protection and nuclear safety

The article ‘Protection against Gamma Rays by Using Heavy Concrete Containing Lead Slag’ demonstrates his concern for increasing safety and reducing radiation hazards. This type of research is the basis for designing structures resistant to ionizing radiation in nuclear power plants.

Modeling the release of radioactive contaminants and Bayesian inference

In the field of nuclear meteorology, he identified the sources of radioactive contaminants in a study titled ‘Determining the parameters of unknown atmospheric dispersion sources using AERMOD and the Bayesian method’. The use of advanced statistical methods such as Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) demonstrates his high scientific accuracy in complex modeling.

4155/v