ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Akihide Hidaka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 2 | February 2022 | Pages 318-334
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1929767
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The author previously proposed that glassy cesium-bearing microparticles [resulting uniquely from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (FDNPS) accident] may have been formed by melting and atomization of glass fibers (GFs) of the high-efficiency particulate air filter in the standby gas treatment system line due to the flame and blast during the hydrogen explosion in Unit 3. Assuming that this hypothesis is correct, Type A could contain or accompany carbon, which ignites spontaneously above 623 K, because of the limited time to be heated up, the inclusion of carbon in the binder applied on the GF surface, and the closely located charcoal filter. As previous studies have not identified carbon, the present analyses were performed with an electron probe microanalyzer to determine whether Type A contains carbon. The results show that Type A contained carbon originating from the binder. Some nonspherical particles were accompanied by Type A, and the film surrounding Type A contained more carbon, which is thought to originate from the charcoal filter. These results cannot be explained by the other mechanisms proposed so far and can be explained consistently only by the author’s proposed hypothesis. Although it may be premature to determine Type A formation mechanisms, this information enables one to limit the temperature conditions of Type A formation.