In order to further enhance awareness of radiation and its properties, and to
combine efforts to raise awareness with education and outreach, we have established the Berkeley DoseNet program [21]. This program consists of a sensor
network that is being developed across high- and middle schools in the Bay Area as
well as well UC Berkeley and other high schools and research institutions in Japan,
South Korea, and Sweden. The sensors are equipped with a Raspberry-Pi computer
and initially set up with a simple radiation dosimeter. These dosimeters are loaned
to the local school partners and collected data is made available to the public on the
Dosenet website in 5-min intervals. The DoseNet team is currently collaborating
with participating teachers to develop projects that students can work on with the
data collected, either with their school’s local data or with the data available across
the network. These projects have two objectives: (1) Allow the students to “see”
radiation in our environment and to learn important properties of radiation, e.g. the
fact that it varies spatially and temporally or that it can be shielded or reduced by
increasing the distance; (2) Enable a better understanding and appreciation of
fundamental concepts in science and engineering such as uncertainties associated
with observations and measurements, statistics and probability, and ultimately, risk.
As the concept of risk is becoming ever more important in our modern and technological driven global society, it needs to be better understood by the public. The
first objective addresses specifically the fear of radiation in the public as it can not
be recognized with human senses. The second objective addresses the need to
enhance more broadly the science and technology literacy of citizens. In parallel to
expanding geographically, we are planning to upgrade and complement the radiation sensors with better radiation detectors and other sensors. We are in the process
of integrating recently developed pocket-sized CsI(Na) scintillator-based detectors
that enable us not only to register radiation, but also to measure the energy of
radiation, e.g. to see the “color” of nuclear radiation. The “color” tells us about the
origin and the type of materials, specifically the isotope, that emitted the radiation.
Complementary sensors will include air-particulate and CO 2 sensors that will
become part of the sensor package. We encourage schools to add digital weather
stations to the sensor package, as it is quite interesting to study correlation between
weather patterns and the quantities observed with the sensor package.
4.2 Science and Technology—Assess, Predict, and Minimize
the Impact of Radiological Contamination
Our research within the context of radiological resilience at LBNL is currently
engaged in four different scientific and technology domains, which address current
needs in the evacuated areas in Fukushima Prefecture to ensure the safety of the
population when they return and in the future. As of January 2016 about 85,000
214
K. Vetter
combine efforts to raise awareness with education and outreach, we have established the Berkeley DoseNet program [21]. This program consists of a sensor
network that is being developed across high- and middle schools in the Bay Area as
well as well UC Berkeley and other high schools and research institutions in Japan,
South Korea, and Sweden. The sensors are equipped with a Raspberry-Pi computer
and initially set up with a simple radiation dosimeter. These dosimeters are loaned
to the local school partners and collected data is made available to the public on the
Dosenet website in 5-min intervals. The DoseNet team is currently collaborating
with participating teachers to develop projects that students can work on with the
data collected, either with their school’s local data or with the data available across
the network. These projects have two objectives: (1) Allow the students to “see”
radiation in our environment and to learn important properties of radiation, e.g. the
fact that it varies spatially and temporally or that it can be shielded or reduced by
increasing the distance; (2) Enable a better understanding and appreciation of
fundamental concepts in science and engineering such as uncertainties associated
with observations and measurements, statistics and probability, and ultimately, risk.
As the concept of risk is becoming ever more important in our modern and technological driven global society, it needs to be better understood by the public. The
first objective addresses specifically the fear of radiation in the public as it can not
be recognized with human senses. The second objective addresses the need to
enhance more broadly the science and technology literacy of citizens. In parallel to
expanding geographically, we are planning to upgrade and complement the radiation sensors with better radiation detectors and other sensors. We are in the process
of integrating recently developed pocket-sized CsI(Na) scintillator-based detectors
that enable us not only to register radiation, but also to measure the energy of
radiation, e.g. to see the “color” of nuclear radiation. The “color” tells us about the
origin and the type of materials, specifically the isotope, that emitted the radiation.
Complementary sensors will include air-particulate and CO 2 sensors that will
become part of the sensor package. We encourage schools to add digital weather
stations to the sensor package, as it is quite interesting to study correlation between
weather patterns and the quantities observed with the sensor package.
4.2 Science and Technology—Assess, Predict, and Minimize
the Impact of Radiological Contamination
Our research within the context of radiological resilience at LBNL is currently
engaged in four different scientific and technology domains, which address current
needs in the evacuated areas in Fukushima Prefecture to ensure the safety of the
population when they return and in the future. As of January 2016 about 85,000
214
K. Vetter