Development of electronic circuits that can operate in high radiation environments such as nuclear power plants

Abstract

Robots can play a vital role in disaster rescue, relief and recovery. These versatile machines can perform tasks humans cannot and can enter into dangerous environments otherwise inaccessible to human workers. However, they are not invincible and there are still some situations where robots and the electronic components they're made of fail. By studying the limits of electronics in these extreme scenarios though, better components can be developed and deployed on robots; keeping these invaluable workers online in the most dangerous and urgent of situations. The ongoing decommissioning work at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is an example of this. The earthquake that destroyed the plant happened nearly 11 years ago, yet the clean-up at Fukushima is still ongoing. Long term efforts are needed in order to resolve the issues such as decontamination of the scattered radioactive materials, contaminated water, and decommissioning of the nuclear reactor itself. Associate Professor Kenichiro Takakura, from the Electronics Materials and Devices Research Group at the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Kumamoto College, is carrying out research to develop electronic equipment that can be used in a nuclear reactor to assist with the early completion of decommissioning.