Astronomers Lend Know-How to Cleanup

摘要

The Fukushima radioactivity cleanup is getting an assist from an unexpected source: Japanese astronomers. They have repurposed cutting edge gamma ray detection technology intended to observe distant stars in a device to help uncover hotspots of radiation. Shortly after the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, engineers from plant owner Tokyo Electric Power contacted the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) asking if its x-ray observation technology, developed for a series of satellites, could help track terrestrial radiation. The x-ray astronomy group at JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), in Sagamihara near Tokyo, answered the challenge.