October 2017

October 30, 2017December 19, 2018

Fukushima Accident, Six years on – How an antimatter physicist reacted to the Fukushima Accident

SPEAKER:

RYUGO HAYANO

EMERITUS PROFESSOR

UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/30/2017 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2017 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

I will first discuss briefly why an “antimatter physicist” started to work actively in Fukushima. I will then focus on the present situation in Fukushima from the radiological protection view point, and discuss what are the lessons we have learned in these six years.

The Fukushima Daiichi accident contaminated the soil of densely-populated regions of Fukushima Prefecture with radioactive cesium, which poses risks of internal and external exposures to the residents.

Our extensive surveys however showed that the internal exposure levels of Fukushima residents are negligibly low. Nevertheless, families with small children are still much concerned about internal exposures. We therefore developed a whole body counter for small children, called the ‘BABYSCAN’, with which we have scanned more than 10,000 babies, and have shown that Fukushima babies are free of radiocesium.

As for the external exposure, we launched a project to compare personal doses of high-school students living in Fukushima, outside of Fukushima, France, Poland and Belarus. This study, participated by more than 200 students and teachers, has clearly shown that the external doses in Fukushima are well within the range of natural background.

These are good news, but the fact remains that nearly 50,000 people are still unable to return even though the radiation level in most areas have become low enough. The problems in Fukushima, after six years, are mostly psychosocial, rather than radiation risks.

About the Speaker:

Ryugo Hayano is Emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo. He has been the spokesperson of an “antimatter” research team called “ASACUSA”, at CERN’s antiproton decelerator facility, since 1997. In 2008 he received the Nishina Memorial Prize, the most prestigious physics prize in Japan, for his study.

Since March 2011, his tweets related to the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident attracted some 150,000 followers; his activities in Fukushima include systematic measurement of school lunch for radiocaesium, study of internal exposures using whole body counters, development of a whole-body counter for small children (BABYSCAN), and comparison of external radiation doses of high school students living in Fukushima, outside of Fukushima, France, Poland and Belarus. He is also known as the author of a successful book “We want to know - a conversation about radiation and its effects in the aftermath of the accident”.

October 23, 2017December 19, 2018

Working with Journalists for Better Reporting on Radiation Incidents

SPEAKER:

CAROLYN MACKENZIE

RADIATION SAFETY OFFICER

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH & SAFETY

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/23/2017 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2017 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Working with Journalists for Better Reporting on Radiation Incidents

In the event of a radiation incident such as the use of a dirty bomb or nuclear reactor incident, accurate and swift reporting is vital to public safety. Journalists play a key role in communicating information to the public in the aftermath of an emergency. The public is told to “stay tuned” for announcements and instructions that will be delivered via news media sources. In the case of a radiation incident, experts need to partner with journalists to get their message out in a timely and accurate manner. This talk will provide guidelines on how nuclear engineers can assist journalists in getting important radiation safety information out quickly and accurately.

About the Speaker:

Carolyn MacKenzie is a board certified health physicist with her Masters in Biophysics and is currently working as the Radiation Safety Officer for UC Berkeley. She has previously worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in radiation protection and international radioactive source security. She led efforts in 2004-7 in radioactive source search and secure throughout the world, as well as the development of a radiation warning symbol for the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2008-2012, she worked with the National Nuclear Security Administration on the Global Threat Reduction Initiative securing radioactive sources in African countries. She has also supported the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization by leading training of international inspectors in how to locate radioactive sources.

October 16, 2017December 19, 2018

Transport Methods for Nuclear Nonproliferation Applications: Deterministic Cost Optimization and Monte Carlo Interface Perturbation Theory

SPEAKER:

BRIAN KIEDROWSKI

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/16/2017 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2017 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Two different particle transport methods currently being developed for the Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities will be presented. The first involves using deterministic calculations to estimate variances and computational times for optimizing variance reduction parameters with a specific focus on the DXTRAN technique. The second is a novel approach for estimating response sensitivities of interface locations using kernel density estimators.

About the Speaker:

Brian Kiedrowski received his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2009 in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics the area of computational neutron transport. Following graduation, he was a member of the MCNP development team in the Computational Physics Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 2014, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan as an assistant professor in the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Department. His research areas include Monte Carlo particle transport and hybrid methods, sensitivity and uncertainty quantification methods, and nuclear nonproliferation. He is currently serving as a Co-PI for the Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities.

October 9, 2017December 19, 2018

Space Radiation and its Impact on Human Exploration of the Solar System

SPEAKER:

JACK MILLER, PH.D.

GUEST SCIENTIST, MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS AND INTEGRATED BIOIMAGING DIVISION,

LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY

CONSULTANT, NASA AMES RESEARCH CENTER

CO-EDITOR FOR PHYSICAL SCIENCES, LIFE SCIENCES IN SPACE RESEARCH

DATE/TIME:

MON, 10/09/2017 - 4:00PM TO 5:00PM

LOCATION:

3105 ETCHEVERRY HALL

Fall 2017 Colloquium Series

Abstract:

Ionizing radiation is known to lead to health effects including cancer, cataracts and damage to the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, and radiation in space is considered to be one of the principal hazards to the crews that will venture out into the solar system in the coming decades. I will review the composition of the space radiation field, the physics of its interactions in spacecraft and tissue and its biological effects and how they can be simulated on Earth, and discuss potential physical, biological and operational countermeasures.

About the Speaker:

Ph.D. research in experimental high energy nuclear physics at the LBL Bevalac. Starting in 1988, led a team studying nuclear fragmentation and transport in materials and biological systems at accelerators including the Bevalac, BNL AGS, 88” cyclotron, the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator at Chiba, Japan and the Loma Linda University Proton Therapy Facility. Following the closing of the Bevalac and its biomedical facility, co-led a multi-institution collaboration to establish a hadron radiation biology facility, the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Current research interests include nuclear fragmentation and transport, biophysical effects and dosimetry of high energy heavy charged particles, and development of an integrated approach--incorporating physics, biology, spacecraft design and mission architecture--to radiation health effects on humans on exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit.