Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science (KURNS) Professor
As an extension of my interest in energy, I have been fascinated by the condensed-matter chemistry of actinide series elements, which are elements of atomic fuels such as uranium, and have embarked on an academic career. This field is expected to contribute to the volume reduction of radioactive waste in nuclear science and to the treatment of debris following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated. In addition, the research field is not limited to nuclear energy in the narrow sense of the term, such as the usefulness in the treatment of propagating cancer when one of the elements in this series, actinium-225 (half-life of 10 days) with alpha radioactivity, is properly introduced into cancer cells, and secondary batteries utilizing uranium and neptunium.
Actinide-series elements can be handled in a limited number of locations, and in Japan, they are available for joint use at the Institute for KURNS, Kyoto University, and the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University (Laboratory of Alpha-Ray Emitters in Sendai and the Oarai Center). We would like to promote the above-mentioned research at these three laboratories.