Future perspective of nuclear power and reactor materials

Fukushima Daiichi Accident occurred in March 11, 2011 was severe accident, which surely meant very significant and tough to nuclear experts, and still not came to an end. In order to understand the state of Fukushima accident, time sequence of core meltdown accident of Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Unit 2 in 1979 was described for reference and then that of Fukushima Daiichi NPP Unit 1, 2, 3 and 4 was summarized with fundamental data what happened in the core materials with failure of cooling. Author's personal view was shown on characteristic of nuclear power energy including its significance in civilization history for human welfare, road to rebirth of nuclear power and future perspective of reactor material research. Research on accelerator driven transmutation of transuranium elements and Generation III+ or Generation IV type reactor aiming at introduction around in 2030 was under consideration and their significance should be more discussed. (T. Tanaka)