Details of the Initiative

I am continuing to pursue energy and environmental issues that I have been interested in since my student days. Originally, I specialized in research and development of nuclear energy, but I noticed various problems. In particular, since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011, I have been conducting research with an awareness of the importance of social responsibility. Currently, I am researching evidence-based energy policies using AI, and quantitative energy and environmental policies based on cost-benefit analysis. I think that energy issues are not just environmental issues, but that they indicate the way of life as a person. Comprehensive knowledge and practical experience are required because the essential issues may be misjudged if you seek solutions based solely on technology, economics, institutions, policies, education, etc. In class, we not only acquire knowledge but also think together about what is necessary to achieve a better society. As part of our social contribution, we cooperate with ministries and agencies and media organizations. POlicy LAboratory for Research on CIvil Society and Science &Technology (POLARIS), of which I serve as the head, considers the relationship between advanced technology and society, and in cooperation with POLARIS, we conduct on-site surveys in Fukushima with seminar students, hold public lectures on science and society, and perform science experiments for children by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

I explained the mechanism of the radiation detectors sent to each home at an online scientific experiment event for high school students in October 2020.
In October 2020, we conducted the on-site survey of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station with students of Katsuta’s seminar at the School of Law. We discussed the evacuation zone problems with high school students at an online science experiment event for high school students, using the VR video recorded there.
I explained AI technology to children in a special class at an elementary school in Tokyo in 2019.
introduced the records of the on-site survey that had been conducted since the accident on the 10-year anniversary event of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident held by POLARIS in March 2021.