ITMNR-6
The Sixth International Topical Meeting on Neutron Radiography (ITMNR-6) was held at Kobe University Centennial Hall in Kobe city on September 14-18, 2008 in a series of the International Topical Meeting on Neutron Radiography. The first meeting of the ITMNR was held in Pembroke (Canada) 1990, and then, held in Shonan (Japan) 1995, Lucerne (Switzerland) 1998, State College, Pennsylvania (USA) 2001, and Garching, Munich (Germany) 2004. Each meeting of the ITMNR had topics. The focus of ITMNR-6 in Kobe was on Imaging Technique of Continuous and Pulse Source and Industrial Applications.
Mountains are closed to seashore in Kobe area. Buildings of Kobe University stand on hills with a view of the sea. The Centennial Hall stands on the hill about 100 meters above sea level and we can get a fine view of Osaka bay. The top image of the meeting home page shown above is the night view from the meeting hall.
The meeting was attended by 99 participants from 14 countries. Numbers of the participants from each country are shown in the table.
The scientific program was divided into the technique and the application of the neutron radiography and 46 presentations for oral and 42 for poster were accepted. They were subdivided into ten oral sessions and two poster sessions with a short oral presentation.
New development of imaging techniques, facilities, systems and devices were presented and many applications were introduced. The spatial resolution of the neutron imaging was discussed in a special session since high spatial resolution by the neutron radiography has been required for the industrial applications. An oral presentation titled Latest trends in the Analysis of Fuel Cells for FCV by Dr. K. Shinohara in Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., was invited.
The registration and the reception started in the afternoon on Sep. 14 at Takikawa Hall near the Centennial Hall. Lunches during the meeting were served in a restaurant closed to the meeting hall. An excursion to Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute and a banquet were held in the afternoon on Sep. 16. Participants to the excursion were invited to a Japanese tea ceremony in a traditional Japanese house near KURRI. The banquet was a cruising dinner with a fine night view in Osaka bay. Short tours to Kyoto city and Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Tokai were planed as the post conference tour on Sep. 19.
The review of the submitted full papers had started before the meeting and the refereeing procedures were completed after the meeting for the detail reviewing of the papers and for the early publication of the proceeding.
A total of 54 papers presented in the meeting were accepted in this proceeding as the Special Issue of the Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section A 605.
The special issue was arranged in following 5 sessions:
- New imaging
- Facility and system
- Device and technique
- Spatial resolution
- Application.
The chairman would like to thank all researchers, engineers and students who contributed to the meeting as well as the members of the organizing committee and the international advisory committee for their efforts to make the meeting and the publication successful. He also thank to Graduate School of Engineering in Kobe University, Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Exposition '70, Kansai Research Foundation for Technology Promotion and Kobe Convention & Visitors Association Meet in Kobe 21st Century for their financial supports.
Nobuyuki Takenaka