Front Line Research
We are involved in both the 'soft' and 'hard' sides of research to promote the peaceful usage of nuclear power and radiation.

Delivery class for understanding the high-level applications of nuclear energy and nurturing the next generation of human resources.

The high-level applications of nuclear energy and radiation are indispensable technologies for environmental protection on a worldwide scale and for the advancement of the global community. Japan, a developed nation that is leading this field, has the mission of continuing endeavors in research and disseminating results.

From the standpoint of nuclear energy engineering, this laboratory is involved in training competent human resources who will inherit and carry on developing technologies. The delivery class at middle schools is the pillar that supports our endeavors. We call this class "radiation court." X-rays are the "defendant" and the students play the roles of "judge," "prosecutor" and "defense lawyer," debating the pros and cons of radiation. This is one of our efforts to help students understand and be interested in radiation on their own accord after having taken the class.

Professor Fujiwara, who leads these classes, says, "To be able to mutually understand all kinds of energy including radiation, we have to disseminate this information to the general population, and students themselves should be able to logically explain this information when they are older. There is also the aspect of needing to nurture human resources who can explain what they have learned by combining the standpoints from each subject. Therefore, we also make the students of the research lab attend these delivery classes because we are creating a thinking environment wherein students play key roles."

After these classes, we ask the students who took the class and the students who conducted the class to complete a questionnaire to be able to verify the educational results which then help us in our research for higher-quality educational content.