Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
Sara Kouchehbagh, IAEA Department of Nuclear Energy
Growing up in São Gonçalo, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; a town that faced frequent power outages, Dandara Araujo Da Silva decided at an early age that she wanted to work in the energy sector. Now an Associate Nuclear Engineer at the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Energy, she works on activities related to small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors and studies different approaches to reactivity control as well as SMR instrumentation and control systems.
“I have always seen energy as a human necessity. Many regions of the world still lack access to reliable electricity, including my hometown, and finding clean, stable energy sources has become crucial. The Global South is among the most affected regions and relying solely on solar or wind is insufficient,” she says.
“I chose nuclear engineering because I saw the potential of nuclear energy to provide a resilient, large scale, and low carbon power source to help meet growing electricity demand around the world,” she adds.
Dandara’s journey to the IAEA is a story of determination and hard work. Despite financial challenges, with the support of her parents, she enrolled in a technical high school in Niterói, Brazil, where she dedicated herself fully—spending hours at her local public library reading university-level essays on calculus, physics, and more.
Her commitment paid off when she was accepted to study nuclear engineering at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil’s leading universities. To support herself, Dandara worked on campus as a calculus teaching assistant, commuting four hours a day.
Dandara received the Junior Working Women for the Fem’Energia Award, which promotes women’s careers in the nuclear industry in Europe. (Photo: WiN France).
In 2016, she applied to study abroad in France, a country with one of the highest shares of nuclear in its electricity mix and the third-largest producer of nuclear power in the world with 57 operating reactors. There was only one obstacle, she did not speak French.
After months of self-study, she met the language requirements to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical systems engineering at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Toulouse, one of the leading engineering universities in France.
Systems engineering, a methodology she felt had been missing from her earlier studies, gave her a broader view and understanding complex systems, their interfaces and lifecycle. It also helped her better understand issues around industrialization, commercialization, and long‑term deployment at an early project stage.
“I was fascinated by how nuclear engineering blends multiple disciplines, including physics, chemistry, geology, mathematics, biology, and even sociology and the humanities,” she reflects.
During her studies, she was offered a position as a nuclear engineer at Framatome, a French nuclear reactor company with over 65 years of experience designing, building, and maintaining nuclear power plants around the world.
From there on, she made the career transition to the IAEA.
Dandara with colleagues at the IAEA’s first International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes, held in May 2025 in Vienna, Austria.
When asked what she considers her biggest personal achievement, Dandara says it was finding the courage to redefine her life entirely. Beyond moving to different countries to build a career, she allowed herself the freedom to imagine a future that once felt unattainable and worked every day to make that dream a reality.
“I learned to be a strong woman from my mother and grandmothers, women who refused to accept the limited place society assigned them. There were times I struggled with loneliness, questioned my own abilities, and doubted myself. But if I listened to those doubts, I wouldn’t be here.”