Which areas of nuclear power can students learn in your laboratory?

The specialization of my laboratory is nuclear safety. Initially, the research theme was (nuclear) material. However, to have concrete progress, one must pay attention not only to producing high-quality objects but also to how they could be used and what one must be careful about when producing and using them. It is also necessary to understand under which situations these objects become unusable. The operation limit standard of a nuclear power station is 100 years in the United States and 40 years in Japan. To create the knowledge base of the world, our research team is conducting the standardization of academic societies as a project with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In Japan, there are no current plans for constructing a new nuclear power station. However, there are nuclear power needs outside Japan, so there is still a demand for safer power stations. For such projects, it is also important to enable Japanese people to communicate well when they are abroad. The most important elements are how people think and act when the producer says it is safe and what type of process is required for appropriate decision making. At a power station, a culture of organization is necessary, and those involved must be dedicated to constantly improving the safety. Safety cannot be achieved only by exceeding a previously set level. Instead, safety is defined by the constant generation of new knowledge and its utilization for further safety. The currently emerging consensus is that the safety standards cannot be set at the time of production but instead must be constantly updated.