Abstract: Mainland China has undergone a rapid development of nuclear power during the last two decades. The reactors under construction or soon to be constructed there include some of the world's most advanced models. While the average age of the workforce in China’s nuclear industry is still in the early 30s, China has already become largely self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle. They have made full use of western technology while adapting and improving it, and now have set up a “go global” policy for exporting nuclear technology including heavy components to the rest of the world that may seem to be a strong competition to the US nuclear power industry. 

Speaker Bio: Dr. Lumin Wang came to US from China in 1982 and received his PhD in Materials Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. He is a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences and the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (UM). He worked at Argonne National Laboratory and University of New Mexico before joining UM in 1997. Professor Wang’s main research interests are on radiation tolerance of nuclear engineering materials and ion beam modification of materials. Professor Wang has published more than 400 SCI indexed research papers with an h-index above 50. Professor Wang has been serving on the International Committee of American Nuclear Society (ANS) since 2010. He has taken over 100 UM students to China to observe the development of nuclear power there seven summers in a row since 2010. Professor Wang was named as an outstanding nuclear engineering professor in 2008 and an international ambassador in 2013 by UM’s college of engineering. 

Abstract: Freshwater scarcity is expected to increase over the coming decades due to population growth, migration to urban centers in water-scarce regions, and climate change. Increased scarcity will in turn drive price increases and potential for conflict. The ability of a country to equitably deliver freshwater may thus be the difference between survival and peace or war. Past solutions have relied upon massive water projects that convey freshwater from water-rich to water-scarce regions, but such strategies are energy intensive, costly, and contentious when political boundaries are crossed. Seawater desalination can be even more energy intensive, and is constrained to near-ocean locations. By contrast, reuse of treated water creates local supplies that offset demand for imported water. In the developed world, such systems are typically add-ons to existing centralized treatment plants, and purified water is pumped from these facilities to local users. In the developing world, the costs of such systems are prohibitive, and a new approach is needed. What might be done with mass-produced modular systems equipped with accurate and rapid monitoring technology? What would be the obstacles and the pay-offs?

Abstract: The safety of a nuclear and any complex system is enhanced by analyzing failures and incorporating the lessons learned into ongoing and future activities.

The triad of hardware, software, and human factors drives nuclear safety. Although each of the 14 reactor core melt incidents that have occurred involved a different reactor design, in none of these cases was the root cause a failure of a major component or an error in analysis. In the six major core melts with which I am most familiar, human factors--the interface of human beings with the hardware and software--played a surprisingly important and under-appreciated role in accident initiation or progression.

The pattern revealed by these analyses of accidents implies that human factors must be better evaluated and integrated into nuclear designs. Several examples of failure modes and the role played by human factors in these accidents are discussed.

Speaker Bio: Milton Levenson started his nuclear work on the Manhattan Project in January 1944. His first assignment was in the development of the barrier for the Gaseous Diffusion plant. Later that year he was transferred to what is now the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to work on chemical separations projects.

In 1948 he joined the Argonne National Laboratory as part of the Atomic Energy Agency relocation of nuclear reactor research. He eventually became Argonne’s Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and the Environment.

In 1973 he joined the newly formed Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as director of nuclear power. In 1980 when President Reagan appointed Kenneth Davis the Deputy Secretary of Energy, Levenson joined the Bechtel Corporation in the role vacated by Davis.

In 1990 he retired from Bechtel. He continues to consult and currently is one of the six Senior Technical Advisors (STA) to the Nuclear Explosives Division (NED) of DoE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

Much of his career has involved safety. He was personally involved in the aftermath of six of the 14 core melt events. He was asked to take charge of the 100 technical staff assembled at TMI to provide technical support to the utility staff. He was extensively involved with Chernobyl, co-chairing with Dr. Velikov, Gorbachev's Science Advisor, a detailed review of the cause of the accident. He chaired the Argonne Safety Committee that reviewed the EBR 1 accident, the Borax 1 experiment, and the SL 1 project. He had secondary roles in connection with the Lucens and Fermi 1 accidents.

Levenson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He has served on 30 National Academy studies and chaired 12 of them. He is a recipient of the Robert E. Wilson Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering for contributions to nuclear chemical engineering.  He received a special award from the American Nuclear Society for work defining the Source Term, the basic value that largely determines the consequences of nuclear accidents.

Lunch will be served to pre-registered guests. To ensure an accurate headcount, RSVPs are required.

The winners of the 2017 Firestone Medal and the William J. Perry Prize will present their prize-winning theses at a lunchtime seminar.

The Firestone Medal for Excellence in Undergraduate Research recognizes the top 10% of all honors theses in social science, science, and engineering. Receiving the Firestone Medal this year is Lauren Newby for her work on "From Zero to Sixty: Explaining the Proliferation of Shi’a Militias in Iraq after 2003." 

The Perry Prize recognizes excellence in policy-relevant research in international security studies and was awarded to Alex Lubkin for his research on "Plutonium Management and Disposition in the United States: History and Analysis of the Program." 

Both recipients are members of the Center for International Security and Cooperation’s Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies.

Abstract: Over decades, assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and many others has bolstered understanding of the climate problem: unequivocal warming, pervasive impacts, and serious risks from continued high emissions of heat-trapping gases. Societies are increasingly responding with early actions to decarbonize energy systems and prepare for impacts. In this emerging era of climate solutions, new assessment opportunities arise. They include learning from ongoing real-world experiences and helping close the gap between aspirations and the pace of progress. Against this backdrop, I will consider core challenges in assessment, in particular: (1) integrating diverse evidence; (2) applying rigorous expert judgment; and (3) deeply embedding interactions between experts and decision-makers. Examples span climate risks and portfolios of mitigation and adaptation responses. For climate and broader global change, the presentation will explore how transparent, high-traction assessment can support decisions about contested and uncertain futures. 

About the Speaker: Katharine Mach is a Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and a Visiting Investigator at the Carnegie Institution for Science. She leads the Stanford Environment Assessment Facility (SEAF). From 2010 until 2015, Mach co-directed the scientific activities of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which focuses on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. This work culminated in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report and its Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation. Mach received her PhD from Stanford University and AB from Harvard College.