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Chairman’s Message
The biennial SMiRT Conferences bring together scientists and engineers who deal with fundamental aspects of engineering mechanics or with the development of realistic constitutive laws, or who apply structural mechanics to problems of nuclear technology or establish structural safety for nuclear facilities. The discussions in SMiRT always aim towards a better and safer life in the world through improvement of Conference Seminars of the SMiRT Conference.
The intensive efforts and contributions of the late Professor Thomas A. Jaeger from the Bundesanstalt fur Materialprufung towards the first five conferences helped to establish the SMiRT Conference as a forum for ideas in structural mechanics in reactor technology. The SMiRT 11 Conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan, on the SMiRT’s 20th anniversary.
As in the past, SMiRT 11 will be accompanied by Conference Seminars, so-called Post Conference Seminar, where selected topics of particular importance can be treated in depth. In this context, a group of specialists will be able to elaborate a state-of-the-art report and to identify open questions for further research. As well as P.C. Seminar, the International Atomic Energy Agency plans to have the Technical Committee Meeting for the structural safety of existing nuclear power plants in this SMiRT 11.
In accordance with retrospective evaluation of the 10th SMiRT, new expansion of SMiRT technology is required as we move towards the 21st century. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of SMiRT, new directions of SMiRT technology must be addressed. The nuclear industry has faced social difficulties thorughout the world, but it is the only way to solve the energy problem for countries at various levels of economical and technical development. In the 1990’s, the final decade leading up to the 21st century, nuclear power plants should be introudced to newly industrialized countries to fulfill their energy demand. Many concepts of advanced type reactors, whose characteristics are, in general, inherently, have been discussed. In SMiRT 11, the nature of their structural safety must be discussed from the viewpoint of SMiRT technology. This will be beneficial to Asian countries which may suffer from energy shortages and environmental problems in the next decade, as well as to countries with more developed nuclear industries. Also, we are hoping for many newcomers to this SMiRT from various countries who intend to develop own new techniques in various fields which have common structural problems in structural engineering of critical facilities such as those in the petrochemical industry and other energy industiries.
In this context, the divisions of SD0, SD1, and SD2 have been formed. These special divisions will cover various field in terms of the issues mentioned above. If the individual topics prove their significance in SMiRT 11, that will become a new division in the next SMiRT 12. The Conference Seminars will also cover some new topics in the vein.
It has been considered that SMiRT 11 will be held in Asia, and this is more significant than it being held in Tokyo. This is especially true n the history of the nuclear industry because most of the countries in this area, including the Indian subcontinent, need nuclear power plants as a vital energy source for their industrial development in the next decase and the next century. In Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the social situation, including energy needs, is rapidly changing. Engineering in the field must cooperate to establish a stable and safe energy soure for these countries. A special task force may be established for this purpose.
The hazards of nuclear accidents are not always regional. National boundaries, oceans, and other topographical features cannot act as barriers or containments. Our structural engineers can establish the barriers or containments, and nuclear safety will be enhanced only by global cooperation and sharing of knowledge in structural engineering and science. SMiRT 11 is a new step towards a well-balanced and the prosperous 21st century throughout the world.
Heki Shibata
Chairman of Exective Committee for SMiRT 11
President of the International Association for Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology, e.V.
Professor, University of Tokyo
