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Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Aerospace Nuclear Science & Technology
Organized to promote the advancement of knowledge in the use of nuclear science and technologies in the aerospace application. Specialized nuclear-based technologies and applications are needed to advance the state-of-the-art in aerospace design, engineering and operations to explore planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond, plus enhance the safety of air travel, especially high speed air travel. Areas of interest will include but are not limited to the creation of nuclear-based power and propulsion systems, multifunctional materials to protect humans and electronic components from atmospheric, space, and nuclear power system radiation, human factor strategies for the safety and reliable operation of nuclear power and propulsion plants by non-specialized personnel and more.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
A more open future for nuclear research
A growing number of institutional, national, and funder mandates are requiring researchers to make their published work immediately publicly accessible, through either open repositories or open access (OA) publications. In addition, both private and public funders are developing policies, such as those from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the European Commission, that ask researchers to make publicly available at the time of publication as much of their underlying data and other materials as possible. These, combined with movement in the scientific community toward embracing open science principles (seen, for example, in the dramatic rise of preprint servers like arXiv), demonstrate a need for a different kind of publishing outlet.
K. C. Chen, A. Nikroo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 4 | May 2006 | Pages 721-727
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1192
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The surface of vapor-deposited polyimide (PI) coating onto a mechanically agitated mandrel has always been rougher than the NIF standard. The roughness has been attributed to various sources, including defects and contamination on substrate mandrels, abraded damage from mechanical agitation, or off-stoichiometric compositions.At near-stoichiometric deposition conditions, the surface roughness is primarily due to damages from collisions. Using a plastic mesh container with a suitable opening size and synchronized gentle tapping, we have greatly improved the surface quality of 1 mm diameter 4-5 m thick polyimide shells. The plastic mesh improves the surface quality by limiting shell movements and reducing the impact force and number of collisions between the shells during coating. The surface smoothness of the as-deposited polyamic acid coating meets the NIF surface smoothness standard. Appropriate pressure and heat profiles are used to remove the mandrel and convert the thin polyamic acid coating into polyimide and preserve the surface smoothness. The AFM spheremaps, patch scans and WYKO optical interferometer measurement showed a root-mean-square smoothness ranging 3-5 nm.
