Fukushima Dai-ichi. Those two words are now synonymous with the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan on March 11, 2011, and the subsequent destruction of Tokyo Electric Power Company's nuclear power plant on the eastern coast of Japan. Assuming that the Fukushima incident would have some tangible impact on nuclear engineering, this article focuses on ACerS member, John Marra, associate laboratory director of science and technology at the Savannah River National Labs, (SRNL). SRNL is the leading government facility within the US Department of Energy for several nuclear technologies, including nuclear fuel storage and handling. At SRNL, Marra has been able to monitor the reports from DOE and other independent experts on the scene in Japan. He has been privy to many of the international discussions about the lessons learned from Fukushima. And, after hearing what Marra has to say in this article, it is not hard to believe that Fukushima also may become synonymous with a rethinking of the properties and demands of key nuclear materials and, perhaps, the embrace of small-scale delivery of fission-based power.
