The Key Role Transferring Knowledge of Nuclear España, The Spanish Nuclear Society Magazine

The magazine of the Spanish Nuclear Society (SNE), “Nuclear España” is a scientific-technical publication with almost thirty years of uninterrupted edition and more than 300 numbers published. Their pages approach technical subjects related to the nuclear energy, as well as the activities developed by the SNE, especially in national and international meetings. The main part of the magazine is composed by articles written by known specialist of the energy industry. One of the top goals of the magazine is to help on transferring the knowledge from the generation that built the nuclear power plants in Spain and the new generation of professionals that have started its nuclear career in the last years. Each number is monographic, trying to cover as many aspects on an issue as it is possible, with collaborations from the companies, the research centers and universities that helps to have complementary points of view. On the other hand the articles help to deep in the issue´s topic, broadening the view of the readers about the nuclear field and helping to share knowledge across the industry. The news section of the Magazine picks up the actuality of the sector as a whole. The editorial section reflects the opinion of the SNE Governing Board and the Magazine Committee on the subjects of interest in this field. On the other hand, the monthly interview sets out the professional outstanding opinions. With a total of eleven numbers per year, three of them have a noticeable international character: the one dedicated to the operative experiences on the Spanish and European nuclear power plants, the monographic issue devoted tothe Annual Meeting of the SNE and the international issue, which covers the last activities of the Spanish industry in international projects. Both first are bilingual issues (Spanish-English), whereas the international edition is published completely in English. Besides its diffusion through all the members of the SNE, the Magazine is distributed, in the national scope, to companies and organisms related to the nuclear power, universities, research centers, representatives of the Central, Autonomic and Local Administrations, mass media and communication professionals. It is also sent to the utilities and research centers in Europe, United States, South America and Asia.

Effect of impacting mass on firmness sensing of fruits.

There has been an increased interest in using impact techniques for sensing firmness of fruits and vegetables. When an impacter is used to impact a fruit, the impacting mass is an important parameter which affects both the impact signal and fruit damage. Results of theoretical analysis and tests conducted on two varieties of pears indicate that lowering the impacting mass results in amplifying the measured signal, reducing sensing errors, and minimizing damage to the fruit.

A low-mass impact sensor for high-speed firmness sensing of fruits.

A low-mass impact sensor for high-speed firmness sensing of fruits was built and tested. Results of tests with a rubber ball indicated that the impact measurement was not sensitive to the distance between the impactor and the impacting surface of the sample within the range of 8 to 23 mm, and was not sensitive to how the sample was held. Tests with kiwifruits and peaches show good correlation between firmness readings obtained with the impact sensor and those obtained with the penetrometer. The best correlation was between the slope of the impact curve (at mid-point) and the force-deformation firmness. Preliminary test showed that the sensor could sense fruit firmness at a speed of 5 fruits/s.