• Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

April 10, 2026 3:30 PM - April 10, 2026 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

Host:

Sally Seidel

Presenter:

Professor Carl Willis (UNM Nuclear Engineering Dept.)

Video Recording

Accidents at Three Mile Island (USA, 1979), Chornobyl (Soviet Ukraine, 1986), and Fukushima Daiichi (Japan, 2011) anchor the contemporary understanding of what happens when nuclear power goes wrong.  The speaker will share photographic insights from personal visits to all three sites, as well as observations on how the accidents occurred and how the afflicted places have changed over the post-accident years.  With the popularity of nuclear power at an all-time high, new commercial reactor technologies in rapid development, and dramatic changes to the nuclear regulatory environment in the United States, focus will turn to the sociotechnical foundations for nuclear power safety as understood through the lens of these three accidents, and what future nuclear power accidents might look like.

About Carl Willis

Carl Willis is Professor of Practice and Chief Reactor Supervisor in the Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico.  He grew up in the Manhattan Project city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he developed an interest in nuclear science and technology.  He holds a BS (Physics, Chemistry) from Guilford College and an MS (Nuclear Engineering) from Ohio State.  His subsequent career has focused on particle accelerator applications, radiation detection, radiation safety, nuclear fusion, and teaching.  He teaches throughout the undergraduate NE curriculum and supervises the AGN-201M nuclear reactor at UNM.

Specialties:

• Particle accelerator applications:
  • boron neutron capture therapy
  • neutron sources
  • isotope production
• Radiation physics:
  • radiation detection
  • metrology
  • shielding design
  • modeling
• Radiation protection and radiobiology