Rietti began studying chemistry in 1948 after she had finished her secondary education, graduating in 1954 with her degree in nuclear chemistry. She took her last course at the National Atomic Energy Commission in 1953, a fact that by chance allowed her to be the first nuclear chemist in Argentina. Her thesis was titled Study of the reaction between diboron tetrachloride and diborane. Boranes are chemical compounds known as boron hydrides. These materials cannot receive air or humidity. Because they have to always remain cold, she had to constantly monitor her compounds, including on weekends when she went to her laboratory with her children. In 1963, she finally obtained her doctorate from UBA.