Remote calibration technology and its progress which are very important in global metrology are introduced.　Time/frequency standards are realized using a GPS system, and wavelength/length standards are realized using optical-fiber networks.　Moreover, general standards are realized by many users using robust transfer standards.

In order to achieve a more convenient and secure society, it is necessary that equipment can operate without malfunctions.　EMC is defined as the ability of an equipment or system to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic environment without introducing intolerable electromagnetic disturbances to anything in that environment.　Therefore, a more convenient and secure society can be achieved by introducing only equipment having EMC.　For that purpose, international EMC standards have been produced, and EMC regulations have been adopted by many countries.　In this report, EMC problems and EMC standards related to the information technology equipment are introduced.

The progress of instrumentation and control systems for BWRs is described along with the features of digital safety systems and the verification and validation methods used for ABWRs.　The recent development of next-generation digital systems using FPGA technology is also described.

The photovoltaic industry has developed rapidly in recent years because of increased social attention to energy and environmental issues.　Although wafer-based silicon solar cells have the largest share of the market, a rapid increase in demand has caused a shortage of high-purity silicon, impeding the expansion of production.　On the other hand, thin-film silicon solar cells are free from resource limitations, although their efficiency is lower than that of crystalline silicon solar cells.　The present status of and issues regarding silicon solar cells and their future prospects are reviewed in this article.

It was thought that intermetallic superconductors do not exhibit superconductivity at temperatures over 30 K because of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) limit ; therefore, researchers have been interested in high-T_c cuprates. Our group discovered high-T_c superconductivity in MgB₂ at 39 K in 2001. This discovery has initiated a substantial interest in the potential of high-T_c superconductivity in intermetallic compounds that include “light” elements (borides, carbides, etc.).

Japan Standard Time is kept at National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and is used as the reference time in Japan.　Its generation system was renewed in February 2006.　This new system adopted various upgrades throughout the whole system, and its quality and reliability were markedly improved.　We describe the outline of this system and its status since regular operation started.

We have developed a new type of a micropattern gas detector (μ-PIC), which has a small cell consisting of a pillar anode and a ring cathode with a 400μm pitch on a printed board.　This detector provides a higher gain than a microstrip gas detector and good durability of discharges.　Using this device, we are currently developing several applications such as time-resolved-X-ray- and gamma-ray-imaging detectors.　First, we describe the principle and the performance of the μ-PIC, and then we discuss the electron-tracking Compton camera, which reconstructs the 3-D tracks of recoiled electrons in the Compton process for both sub-MeV and MeV gamma rays.　In particular, the applications of gamma-ray-imaging to medical imaging using phantoms and small animals are presented.

We describe the relationship between the crystal structure and the physical properties of organic low-molecular-weight materials.　We focus our attention on electrical conductivity and related functionalities.　Single-component conductors and charge-transfer salts are briefly reviewed, and the characteristic features of component molecules and their effects on their crystal structure and physical properties are discussed.　We give some examples of functional bulk materials that show switching and/or memory effects.