Designer of Fukushima Daiichi Gave Special Lecture "Risk Awareness and Humanity of Engineers after Accidents at Fukushima Plant"
17 Jun 2011
On June 2nd, a Carrier Educational Lecture entitled "Practical Training for Architectural and Urban Designers who Create a Sustainable Society" was held, which attracted 330 participants, including students, Faculty members, and outsiders from the University.Dr. Atsuo Watanabe, a Special-appointed Professor at the Numazu National College of Technology, was invited to lecture about "Risk Awareness and the Humanity of Engineers after the Accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant." In the lecture, he focused on the essence of the accident and what was revealed by this accident.
Dr. Watanabe worked for the Toshiba Nuclear Energy System & Services Division until 2005. During this period, he was engaged in the basic designs of the No. 3 and No. 5 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi, and the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 reactors at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant.
Based on his experience, Dr. Watanabe clearly interpreted the principles of nuclear power generation, the circumstances surrounding the accident, and the hazards of radioactivity. In addition, he discussed the important factors that engineers should consider, and how they should think about them.
He emphasized that what this accident revealed was not that Japanese technological competence is of poor quality, but that there are weaknesses in terms of risk awareness. Furthermore, his message to the students was that, since there is no absolute safety in the world, and therefore technologies are always accompanied by risks, one must always be conscious of the worst-case scenario. One must also view matters from a wide perspective based on a global standard, thinking of foreign countries and children in the future.
After the lecture, many questions were asked by the students and the general audience, such that the question and answer session exceeded the scheduled time.
