Presentation by Areva Nuclear Engineer on Fukushima Accident Modeling

The Washington Post and the New York Times have separately produced two new articles regarding the forensic reconstruction of the Fuskushima Daiichi accident by different teams of nuclear scientists around the world. Buried in the Times article was a reference to a slide show presentation presented by nuclear engineer Dr. Alan Hansen who is employed by the french nuclear power firm Areva and is currently a visiting professor at Stanford. Elements of the slide show are reported to have been developed by Dr. Mattias Braun with Areva’s German Unit. The slide show does indeed give a detailed account, complete with diagrams, explaining how the accident has likely unfolded so far:

The New York Times article quotes Dr. Hansen as having told the Stanford crowd, “Clearly, we’re witnessing one of the greatest disasters in modern time.” From the presentation’s language, the spent fuel pools continue to represent the largest potential source of fission product release.