Japanese version is here.
1/95-6/99: Assistant Professor - Department of Nuclear Engineering, U.C. Berkeley.
4/93-3/95: Associate Professor - Department of Nuclear Engineering, Tokai University, Japan.
4/90-3/93: Assistant Professor - Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan.
4/88-3/90: JSPS Fellow - University of Tokyo. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellow.
Joonhong Ahn won Junior Scientist Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (1988-90). Dr. Ahn joined the faculty in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tokyo as an Assistant Professor (1990-1993). He moved to Department of Nuclear Engineering, Tokai University (1993-1995), while serving as a part-time faculty member at University of Tokyo. In January 1995, he joined the faculty at Berkeley. During his teaching career, he has taught courses titled "Introduction to Computer Analysis," "Transport Phenomena," "Geological Disposal Systems" (at Univ. of Tokyo), "General Chemistry," "Physical Chemistry" (at Tokai Univ.), "Radioactive Waste Management," "Safety Assessment for Geologic Disposal of Radioactive Wastes," and "Nuclear Design" (at U. C. Berkeley).
His research interests include the performance assessment of deep geological disposal systems for high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), especially analyses of mass transport through engineered barriers and the natural geological barrier. He is also interested in future of nuclear energy in Asia/Pacific region. He has published papers on (1) the transport of radionuclides through a fractured geological medium, (2) the mass transport of radionuclides in a shallow-land repository for low-level wastes, (3) the sensitivity analysis of radionuclide transport through a fractured medium, (4) radionuclide diffusion in a fracture network by applying percolation theory and fractal geometry, (5) the mass transfer and transport analyses for engineered barriers, taking into account geochemical conditions inside the engineered barriers, (6) bentonite expansion into fractures in a host rock surrounding the engineered barriers and mass transport in the same region, and (7) analysis of autocatalytic criticality of buried fissile materials.
He has been interested in the future of the nuclear energy in Asia/Pacific region since when he participated in the three-year research project at Tokai University sponsored by the Japanese Government. He visited Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Far-east Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. After he came to Berkeley, he organized an international conference in 1997 by inviting scholars from those countries. In 1998, another symposium was held, sponsored by Tokai University. For both meetings, proceedings were compiled by him as the principal editor.
Professor Ahn served as a member of the Planning Committee for the Atomic Energy Society of Japan (1992-1995). He was at the Review Committee (1992) for the first official report to the Atomic Energy Commission on the status of R&D for the deep geological disposal of HLW, prepared by Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation of Japan. He was a member of the Advisory Committee for the Japan Nuclear Safety Association (1993-1995), and was the chairman of the Committee for the publication of booklets about the necessity of nuclear energy for junior high school students, co-sponsored by Japan Atomic Energy Cultural Promotion Foundation and Science and Technology Agency of the Japanese Government (1993-1995). He served as the Editor for Radioactive Waste Research (1994-1996), a journal of the Division of Radioactive Waste Management, Atomic Energy Society of Japan. The journal was established when he was serving as the Secretary General for the Division (1993-1995). He took a leading role in setting the basis of the journal.
He gave an invited paper at the National Symposium on Atomic Energy, jointly sponsored by the nuclear-energy-related academic associations and societies in Japan in 1995 on the title of "Simulation of radionuclide transport through geological media." He gave an invited paper at the session organized by the Division of nuclear fuel cycle and environment, Atomic Energy Society of Japan, at the 1997 annual meeting for the Society, on the title of "Mechanisms and possibility of autocatalytic criticality by high-level radioactive wastes in geologic repository." He was invited by the Chinese Government to make an 18-hour lecture at East China Geological Institute in December 1997. He was invited to the 101th meeting of Advisory Committee for Nuclear Waste (ACNW) of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a plenary speaker, where he gave a talk about "Chemical issues and considerations for the use of backfill in a repository."