The NEST ARTERD Project, led by Japan Atomic Energy Agency Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science (JAEA/CLADS) and the University of Tokyo, is dedicated to advanced remote technology for decommissioning under intense gamma-ray radiation environments (e.g. robotics, virtual reality).

The NEST ARTERD Project also addresses other technologies such as radiation hardness and smartness, radiation imaging, advanced radiation measurement and remote spectroscopic analysis, in order to understand decommissioning working environments.

The NEST ARTERD Project has allowed Japanese organisations to accept foreign young researchers (graduate students, research students of graduate school, postdocs or young professionals) as research fellows ( NEST Fellows) to in order to provide them with access to state-of-the-art science and technologies to use in their research. In addition, the NEST ARTERD Project invites young Japanese researchers to become NEST Fellows and conduct their research in overseas partner organisations.

Background

The decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is currently one of the biggest challenges. Using advanced remote technology to address this challenge and ensure successful decommissioning operations in intense γ-ray irradiation environments is crucial.

The University of Tokyo has taken the lead in this area and CLADS/JAEA has functioned as the international base of research development and human resource development for collecting information and experience from around the world. In co-operation with the University of Tokyo, CLADS/JAEA has joined the NEST framework to contribute to the NEST activities in international human resource development.

Objectives

The NEST ARTERD Project aims to develop a closer relationship with those organisations taking part in order to establish a strong and diverse educational network. The exchange of young researchers between Japanese organisations and overseas partners can help its development.

Leading organisations

• JAEA/CLADS, Japan
• University of Tokyo, Japan

Participating organisations 

• McMaster University, Canada
• Technical University of Munich, Germany
• Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Italy
• Nuclear Installations Management (SOGIN), Italy
• Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
• The University of Tennessee, United States
• The University of Manchester, United Kingdom (non-NEST member)
• The University of Oxford, United Kingdom (non-NEST member)

Fellows

2018

• Andrew T Walker, McMaster University, Canada
• Joshua Racette, McMaster University, Canada
• Agus Nur Rachman, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Zhihong Zhong, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Jake J Hecla, University of California Berkeley, United States
• Matthew R Marshall, University of California Berkeley, United States
• James McNeil, University of Tennessee, United States
• Micah Folsom, University of Tennessee, United States

2019

• Thomas Frederick Wright, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Inmo Jang, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Rodosthenis Charalampous, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Stella Marie Arlette Adrienne Tournier, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• David Andrew Megson-Smith, University of Bristol, United Kingdom

2022

• Danilo Casagrande, ENEA, Italy
• Salvatore Almaviva, ENEA, Italy
• Ren Komatsu, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Tong Chen, University of Tokyo, Japan
• Hanlin Liu, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Paul Dominick, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Xueliang Chang, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Zhengyi Jiang, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Naser Burahmah, University of Tennessee, United States

2023

• Melissa Sandison, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
• Sebastian Friedrich, Kerntechnische Hilfsdienst GmbH, Germany

A short presentation of the NEST Fellows can be found here.