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Dr. Shinya Nagasaki

Professor
Department of Engineering Physics

Expertise:  
radioactive waste management, nuclear fuel cycle, safety assessment of repository and nuclear fuel cycle facilities, migration of actinides, fission products and heavy metals in geosphere and biosphere, nuclear technology in society, nuclear proliferation and security
Areas of Specialization:  
Research Clusters:  
Email:
Office:
NRB 105 (Lab: NRB A109)
Phone:
+1 905.525.9140 x 27090

Overview

Currently Accepting Graduate Students

Research Interests

Transport of radionuclides for safe and secure radioactive waste management by integration of chemistry with physics

Despite any nuclear energy policies taken by government and utilities, the issue of management and disposal of used nuclear fuel is essential and critical for public acceptance of the policies. Without safe and secure radioactive waste management, the public and our society never accept nuclear energy.

In order to increase the confidence of Canadians and global societies in radioactive waste management, we are elucidating the sorption, diffusion and transport of key radionuclides in the final repository, geosphere and biosphere by integrating the chemical experiments with physical chemistry and quantum dynamics.

We are the only research group in Canada researching this area. We are collaborating with the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Canada (NWMO), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the University of Tokyo. Our research achievements will be used in the safety case studies of NWMO, other implementers and regulatory authorities in the world.

New risks and uncertainties in safety and security of waste management from Small Modular Reactor

Canada is taking the initiative of deployment of small modular reactors (SMR) in the world. However, there are few (or no) discussions of new risks and uncertainties by SMR in the nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management.

We are studying the optimized SMR deployment in Ontario and Canada by mathematical models and identifying, analyzing and managing what types of risks and uncertainties have to be taken into account from inventories and compositions of radionuclides to economic, political/societal and environmental aspects quantitatively and semi-quantitatively.

Nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management with social scientific literacy

There are many questions which can be asked of science and yet which cannot be answered by science. Nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management are the typical subjects of so-called “trans-science”. By collaborating with social scientists and considering non-natural scientific and engineering knowledge such as Indigenous wisdom, we are examing how nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive waste management should be positioned in Canadian and global communities in the post-truth era. Examples of research are (i) the responsibility of nuclear engineers in nuclear engineering education and (ii) the Disposal safety assessment index consistent with indigenous values.

 

 

Did you know…

Dr. Nagasaki is

– a Fellow of the  Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Germany) and

– a Fellow of School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo.

Publications

View more Publications

Biography

April 1,1988 – Dec.31,1990              Engineer, Shikoku Electric Power Company Inc.

Jan.1,1991 – Oct.31,1993                 Research Associate, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)

Nov.1,1993 – March 31,1995            Lecturer, Department of Quantum Engineering and Systems Science, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)

April 1,1995 – March 31, 1999          Associate Professor, Department of Quantum Engineering and Systems Science, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)

April 1,1999 – March 31, 2005          Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Kashiwa, Japan)

April 1,2005 – March 31, 2012          Professor, Nuclear Professional School, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (Tokai, Japan)

During these period

March 1996 – June 1996                    A Visiting Researcher of Research Center of Karlsruhe (now, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Germany

June 1996 – September 1996            A Visiting Researcher of Research Center of Rossendorf (now,  the  Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf), Germany

July 2010 – September 2011             A Visiting Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

2012 – 2019                                         The Canada Research Chair in Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Radioactive Waste Management

Education

B. Eng: the University of Tokyo (1986)

M. Eng: the University of Tokyo (1998)

Ph.D.: the University of Tokyo (1993)

Achievements

2012 Achievement Award, Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Environment, Atomic Energy Society of Japan

1993 Young Researcher Award, Atomic Energy Society of Japan

Related Courses

Code Title Instructor Outline Info
ENG PHYS 707 Graduate Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Radioactive Waste Management  
Dr. Shinya Nagasaki - Headshot Dr. Shinya Nagasaki
_ENG PHYS 706 (Not offered in 2023-2024) Graduate Toward a New Era of Nuclear Energy: Messages from Fukushima  
Dr. Shinya Nagasaki - Headshot Dr. Shinya Nagasaki
ENGPHYS 4NE3 / 6NE3 Graduate Advanced Nuclear Engineering  
Dr. Shinya Nagasaki - Headshot Dr. Shinya Nagasaki
ENGPHYS 3D04 Undergraduate Principles of Nuclear Engineering  
Dr. Shinya Nagasaki - Headshot Dr. Shinya Nagasaki