Prof. William Charleton, UT Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program, Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin

"The Fukushima Nuclear Accident and the Future of Nuclear Reactor Safety"

Abstract: In March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred off the east coast of Japan. This resulted in the production of a tsunami with a wall of water over 40 feet high.  In addition to the catastrophic direct impact this earthquake and tsunami had on the Japanese people, it also created one of the worst nuclear reactor accidents in history at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. For over 15 days, the country (and the world) watched as the disaster unfolded with three hydrogen explosions, meltdown of three reactor cores, and release of significant radioactivity into the environment. In this colloquium, we will give a detailed description of the accident from a physics and engineering perspective and also discuss how future nuclear systems may be designed with more agility to possibly prevent future unforeseen accidents.