Researchers build Wi-Fi chip that can operate inside a nuclear reactor — receiver uses special materials and design to withstand high doses of radiation for at least six months

A team from the Institute of Science Tokyo unveiled a radiation‑hardened wireless receiver at ISSCC in San Francisco last February.

The chip is designed to operate inside nuclear reactor environments for decommissioning robots and to withstand prolonged radiation exposure.

Example exposure for a robot near a reactor is about 500,000 Gy over six months; by comparison, spacecraft electronics are designed for 100–300 Gy over three years.

To increase radiation tolerance the designers cut transistor count, used NMOS devices, made crucial transistor gates longer and wider, and replaced some oxide‑layer transistors with elements like inductors.

Regular silicon‑based wireless semiconductors are vulnerable to nuclear radiation, and Fukushima cleanup robots previously needed LAN cables for communication.