Dr Rob Malkin from the University of Bristol presented the latest South West Nuclear Hub Seminar this week which focused on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011, and the subsequent decommissioning recovery challenge that is expected to take 100 years or more.
The talk gave a comprehensive view of the events leading up to the accident, the current status of the site and the future roadmap to recovery.
First-hand experience
Dr Malkin, a senior research associate in the Faculty of Engineering, is one the few UK scientists to have visited the site post-accident. He has close working links with many of the organisations tasked with the decommissioning and is regularly updated on progress and challenges by Japanese colleagues. Therefore the talk was brought to life by this recent, first-hand experience of what is happening on the ground in Japan.
Dr Malkin and Professor Bruce Drinkwater in Fukushima
Physics World Article
As mentioned in the talk, Dr Malkin and his colleague Professor Bruce Drinkwater wrote an in-depth article for the IOP's Physicsworld magazine. Here is a link to that article that details a recent visit to the Fukushima Daiichi site.
[button link="https://physicsworld.com/a/what-next-for-fukushima/" bg_color="#806ab7" border="#806ab7"]Physicsworld article[/button]University of Bristol Research into the Fukushima Accident
The Japanese government, along with many international partners including the University of Bristol, are currently undertaking the world’s largest engineering project: the locating, characterising, removing and storing of highly radioactive fuel debris and contaminated water.
In addition to Dr Malkin's research, here are two further examples of University of Bristol research into the Fukushima accident.
Nuclear forensics
Colleagues from the Interface Analysis Centre collaborated with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and the Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science to analyse material from the fallout of the Fukushima accident.
[button link="https://southwestnuclearhub.ac.uk/research/case-studies/nuclear-forensics-fukushima/" bg_color="#806ab7" border="#806ab7"]Nuclear forensics case study[/button]Coping with a big nuclear accident
Professor Philip Thomas from the Faculty of Engineering led a multi-university team to devise a method of objectively valuing safety prevention systems, such as mass evacuation after a nuclear accident.
[button link="https://southwestnuclearhub.ac.uk/research/case-studies/coping-with-a-big-nuclear-accident/" bg_color="#806ab7" border="#806ab7"]Risk management case study[/button]Lecture available on YouTube
This lecture was recorded and livestreamed on YouTube. It will be available to watch on the South West Nuclear Hub YouTube channel.
[button link="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPkeKD0j07_7Oy3jzlcsdg" bg_color="#806ab7" border="#806ab7"]Hub YouTube Channel[/button]