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。

　　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 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, retired physicist Duane Hughes, said inquiring visitors aren't jittery 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。

　　內華達沙漠320英尺寬的彈坑和亞利桑那州的泰坦二型導彈地下發射井都是世界上的“核旅游業”景點。去那里看看可以了解歷史，或從核時代遺留的致命后患中吸取教訓。

　　日本的核危機使人們對核相關的博物館和工業產生了興趣，對一度機密的曼哈頓計劃核設施和核災難留下的荒地也興趣大增。

　　拉斯維加斯原子彈試爆博物館和內華達測試基地歷史基金會的執行總監阿蘭•帕莫說：“有傳聞表明人們對與核相關、特別是與日本現狀相關的事物興趣大增。”

　　最近一個周末參觀該博物館的游客人數增加了12%。

　　在地震和海嘯過后，日本北部已經停水斷電，福島第一核電站的搶修工作還在繼續。與此同時，位于新墨西哥州阿爾布開克市的國家核科學與歷史博物館的參觀人數在最近一個周末一下子增加了20%。

　　阿爾布開克博物館的女發言人珍妮特•米勒說：“顯然人們是想獲取有關核反應堆和核輻射的信息。”

　　博物館的講解員之一、退休物理學家杜安•休斯說，前來問詢的游客并不焦慮，但似乎對于有關日本危險的報道感到迷惑。博物館請來了一位專家對于目前發生的情況向講解員進行簡要介紹。

　　休斯說：“我們盡量讓人們對事故作出適度、真實、坦誠的反應。我沒有看到任何人表現出‘天哪，天要塌了’的情緒狀態。”

　　米勒和其他博物館館員說，現在正值春假，又碰上在亞利桑那州土桑市舉行的美國大學生籃球聯賽和其他特別活動，這些因素也導致了客流量的增加。

　　其他在核技術發展中扮演重要角色的場所在一年中大多數時候都有很多人到訪

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