iPhone goes nuclear

By Hamish Johnston

There really is an iPhone app for everything…

Researchers at the University of Utah’s Nuclear Engineering department have used an iPhone visualization application – or app – to display simulations of nuclear reactor cores (see right).

Called ImageVis3D Mobile, the app was first developed by the university’s Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute to look at medical CT or MRI scans.

Now it seems that Tatjana Jevremovic and colleagues have come up with a way to use the app to visualize the results of reactor simulation software named AGENT (Arbitrary Geometry Neutron Transport).

Jevremovic’s ultimate goal is to develop a secure way for nuclear engineers in academic settings to share simulation data with those at commercial power plants.

Although the ImageVis3D can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store, don’t expect to be simulating reactor cores anytime soon – to do that you’ll need access to the university’s computers.