Nuclear Power Risk Simulator
原子力発電のリスクを理解するための教育的シミュレーション環境
An educational simulation environment for understanding nuclear power risk
Fundamentals
Reactor Architecture
A nuclear reactor generates electricity through controlled fission of uranium-235. The core, surrounded by a pressure vessel and containment structure, maintains a sustained chain reaction. Control rods absorb neutrons to regulate the reaction rate. Coolant circulates continuously, transferring thermal energy to steam generators.
Risk Modeling
Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) quantifies the likelihood and consequences of potential accident scenarios. Event trees map initiating events through system responses. Fault trees identify component failure combinations. The methodology reveals that nuclear risk is not a single number but a landscape of interconnected probabilities.
Scenario Coverage
This simulator models four primary scenarios: loss of coolant accident (LOCA), station blackout (SBO), seismic event, and control rod ejection. Each scenario allows parameter manipulation to explore how changes in system variables affect the probability and severity of core damage.
Risk Simulator
Incident Archive
Fukushima Daiichi, Japan
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused station blackout, leading to core meltdowns in three reactors. The accident demonstrated how compounding external events can overwhelm defense-in-depth safety systems.
Chernobyl, Soviet Union
A flawed reactor design combined with operator error during a safety test led to a power excursion and steam explosion. The accident exposed fundamental design vulnerabilities in RBMK reactors and reshaped global nuclear safety standards.
Three Mile Island, USA
A combination of equipment malfunction, design deficiency, and operator confusion led to a partial core meltdown. Though containment held and public health impact was minimal, the incident fundamentally altered US nuclear regulation.
Tokaimura, Japan
Workers manually poured enriched uranium solution into a precipitation tank, triggering an uncontrolled criticality event. The accident resulted from procedural violations and inadequate safety culture in fuel processing operations.
Safety is not a state, but a process
Nuclear safety exists not in the absence of risk but in the continuous, disciplined management of it. Every system can fail. The question is whether we understand the failures deeply enough to prevent them, contain them, and learn from them.