ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Apr 2024
Jan 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
June 2024
Nuclear Technology
May 2024
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
Yuki Mizushima
Nuclear Technology | Volume 209 | Number 12 | December 2023 | Pages 1886-1897
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2023.2229998
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new ray-tracing–based calibration method for an Optical fiber–based Reflective Probe (ORP) was developed. This technique enables thickness measurement in micrometers in wavy thin liquid film flow, which is simpler and quicker than other liquid film measurements. First, the relationship between the film thickness and ORP signal was calculated through the ray-tracing simulator. The signal trend showed a steep rate of change within a few-hundred-micron thicknesses, thanks to the emission nature of the step index multimode fiber. The ray-tracing–based calibration was established using the calculated relationship. Second, the calibration method was validated under quiescent conditions. The calibrated ORP measured the thickness and then was compared to visualization. Good agreement was confirmed between the two results at a maximum difference of 20% under 1000 μm in thickness. Finally, thickness measurement for the wavy thin film flow was performed. Airflow (jG = 40 to 75 m/s) was introduced into the rectangle test section, and a small amount of tap water (Q = 30 to 90 mL/min) was injected into the channel plate. The difference in the measured thickness between ORP and high-speed visualization was around 20%. The effectiveness of the new calibration method and ORP measurement including its uncertainty will be discussed.