Akira Tokuhiro, PhD
Professor
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
Prominent nuclear design, engineering and safety expert brings leadership and severe nuclear accident analytics skills to Ontario Tech University
Full biography
Few people understand the complexity of analyzing a severe nuclear reactor accident and its environmental consequences better than international nuclear energy expert Akira Tokuhiro, PhD. His contributions to the American Nuclear Society’s President’s Committee on the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan led him to co-author a book on the disaster. With an interest in big data analytics, he has been instrumental in guiding global nuclear energy design, engineering and safety research with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) support, and at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, and Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute. Appointed Dean of the Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science, Dr. Tokuhiro brings over 20 years of diverse nuclear engineering experience in academia and industry to Ontario Tech University. Most recently he served as Senior Principal Engineer of NuScale Power LLC, a nuclear energy startup company in Corvallis, Oregon, funded by the DOE and Fluor Corporation. In this role, he developed the technical basis of the Emergency Planning Zone of the NuScale Small Modular Reactor, which led the company to complete the first-ever submission of the Design Certification Application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) in January 2017. From 2007 to 2014, he served as Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, and Director of the Nuclear Engineering Graduate Program at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. Previously, he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas; as well as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, and Director and USNRC Senior Reactor Operator of the research reactor at the University of Missouri in Rolla, Missouri. Dr. Tokuhiro has earned numerous awards for contributions to his field, and for his mentorship of graduate students. He holds great interest in developing computational methods and experimental validation of nuclear reactor accidents, and energy systems analysis. His research has been published in more than 150 journal and conference papers. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Engineering Physics) at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, then earned his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester in New York State. His interests shifted to nuclear energy and he returned to Purdue to obtain his Doctorate in Nuclear Engineering.
Areas of expertise
Education
- 1991PhD - Nuclear EngineeringPurdue University, USA
- 1984MS - Mechanical EngineeringUniversity of Rochester, USA
- 1981BS - Engineering Science (Physics)Purdue University, USA
Media appearances
Ontario Tech University News online December 31, 1969Seven years since Fukushima: what has changed in OntarioAfter the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan, the Province of Ontario initiated a review of policies and approaches governing preparations for responding to a potential nuclear emergency in Ontario. In revising the Provincial Nuclear Emergency Response Plan (PNERP), the province sought input from the public. It also established a five-member PNERP Advisory Group to review stakeholder comments and offer its recommendations to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.- Ontario Tech University News online December 31, 1969Distinguished nuclear engineering professor appointed Dean of Energy Systems and Nuclear ScienceOntario Tech University announces the appointment of Dr. Akira Tokuhiro, Ph.D., as Dean of the Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science, effective Monday, February 6, 2017. Akira Tokuhiro is a noted international expert in all aspects of nuclear reactor engineering, design and safety. He served on the American Nuclear Society's President's Committee on the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan, and was a technical co-author of a book on the accident.
The World Post online December 31, 1969Interview with Akira Tokuhiro, Nuclear Engineer: Fukushima and the Mass Media“Only the mass media can put the kind of pressure on TEPCO and the Japanese government to bring about a major change. This will cost at least 10 billion dollars if not 20-30 billion to clean up. It will take at least 10 years if not 20 and roughly 10,000 people working on the cleanup. The nuclear business is global. This needs an international effort to clean up Fukushima.” — Nuclear Engineer Akira Tokuhiro
Speaking Engagements
- Charlotte, North Carolina December 31, 1969Simulation-based Stochastic Optimization of a Dry, Used Nuclear Fuel Storage Array for Nuclear Criticality SafetyInternational Conference on Nuclear Criticality Safety
- Tokyo, Japan December 31, 1969Branch-and-Bound Algorithm Applied to Dynamic PRA with Uncertainty Quantification for LWR Station Blackout23rd International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE-23
- Tokyo, Japan December 31, 1969CFD Analysis of the ¼-Scale Air Reactor Cavity Cooling System with Focus on the Inlet Plenum23rd International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE-23
- Tokyo, Japan December 31, 1969Characterizing Single- to Two-Phase Flow Behavior in a Crosscutting RCCS Design with Decay Heat Variation23rd International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE-23
- Tokyo, Japan December 31, 1969Emerging Regulatory Requirements and Industry Practices on Emergency Preparedness in the Post-Fukushima Operations Era23rd International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, ICONE-23
- Charlotte, North Carolina May 5, 2014Lesson Learnt from Fukushima5th Annual Nuclear Supply Chain Conference
- Shanghai-Suzhou, China November 9, 2013Supply Chain Management in the Global Market, Bridging the Divide Between Vendor, Utility and SupplierNuclear Exchange 2013
- MECC Conference Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands December 31, 1969The Realities and Consequences of the Post-Quake and Tsunami Fukushima NPP IncidentsNuclear Exchange 2011
- Reno, Nevada December 31, 1969Production of Energetic Light Fragments with Expanded Cascade Exciton Model (CEM)2014 ANS Annual Meeting
- American Chamber of Commerce, Tokyo, Japan May 10, 2011Is the Food in Safe in Japan?American Chamber of Commerce Japan Conference, Meeting on Food Safety (Post-Fukushima)
Affiliations
- American Nuclear Society