Peek into a 320-foot blast crater in the Nevada desert or descend a Titan II missile silo in Arizona for a look at two of many "atomic tourism" sites around the world that offer history and sometimes lessons from the deadly aftermath of the nuclear age. 内华达沙漠320英尺宽的弹坑和亚利桑那州的泰坦二型导弹地下发射井都是世界上的“核旅游业”景点。去那里看看可以了解历史,或从核时代遗留的致命后患中吸取教训。
The crisis in Japan has boosted interest in nuclear-related museums and plants, once-secret Manhattan Project complexes and areas laid waste by disaster.
"Anecdotal(轶事的) evidence suggests that there is a great interest in things nuclear in general, and specifically about the Japanese situation," said Allan Palmer, executive director of the Atomic Testing Museum and Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation in Las Vegas.
Attendance was up 12 percent on a recent weekend at the museum.
At the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, N.M., attendance jumped about 20 percent on a recent weekend as work continued at the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors after the earthquake and tsunami wiped out power to northern Japan.
"Folks definitely want information about nuclear reactors and nuclear radiation," said Jeanette Miller, a spokeswoman for Albuquerque museum.
One of the museum's docents(讲解员) , retired physicist Duane Hughes, said inquiring visitors aren't jittery(神经过敏的) but seem confused about reports of the dangers in Japan. The museum hosted a specialist to brief docents on what's going on.
"We try to give people a balanced, factual, truthful response," Hughes said. "I didn't see anyone who is showing any emotional situations like, 'Oh my God, the sky is falling.'"
Miller and other museum officials said spring break, along with special events like the NCAA basketball tournament in Tucson, Ariz., are contributing to increased foot traffic.
Other locations that played important roles in the development of nuclear technology stay busy for tours much of the year.