Following FLINS '94 and FLINS '96, the first and second International Workshops on Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Technologies in Nuclear Science, FLINS '98 covers recent developments, both of a foundational and applicational character, in the fields of intelligent techniques such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, robotics, man-machine interface and decision-support systems within nuclear science and related research fields.This volume clearly shows the leading role of FLINS as a forum for the applications of new intelligent techniques in the nuclear domain.

This volume is a tribute to Professor Dr Da Ruan, who passed away suddenly on July 31, 2011, aged 50. The flood of emails that spread throughout the fuzzy logic research community with the tragic news was testimony to the respect and liking felt for this remarkable man. Da was a hardworking , highly productive scientist who, during his short life, published 35 books and more than 250 research papers in highly ranked journals and conference proceedings. He established two successful conferences, FLINS and ISKE, as well as the international journal, JCIS. This book is a collection of contributions from 88 of Da's academic friends from 47 institutes, presented in 60 chapters and over 70 pictures. A Foreword by Lotfi Zadeh begins Da's story. Section 1 provides an overview of Da's funeral on August 6, 2011. Part II outlines Da’s scientific life, his education, scientific career, publications and keynote talks. Part III presents testimonials by Da's colleagues of academic activities, including guest professorships and his many visits to foreign institutes. Part IV contains thirty contributions from colleagues and friends across the world to describe their collaborative experience with Da. We hope this book will keep the memory of Da alive – great scientist, great friend, great humanitarian. He will remain in our hearts forever.

This book is divided into three parts. The first part, “Mathematical Tools and New Developments”, provides basic tools to treat fuzzy set theory, rough set theory, fuzzy control, fuzzy modelling, decision support systems, and related applications. The second part, “Intelligent Engineering Applications”, reports on engineering problems such as man-machine interface, risk analysis, image processing, robotics, knowledge-based engineering, expert systems, process control integration, diagnosis, measurements and interpretation by intelligent techniques and soft computing used for general engineering applications. The third part, “Nuclear Engineering Applications”, concentrates on nuclear applications and covers several topics such as nuclear energy, nuclear safety assessment, radioactive waste management, nuclear measurements, nuclear safeguards, nuclear reactor operation, reactor controller design, fuel reload pattern design, signal validation, nuclear power plants, and optimizations in nuclear applications.

Fuzzy systems and soft computing are new computing techniques that are tolerant to imprecision, uncertainty and partial truths. Applications of these techniques in nuclear engineering present a tremendous challenge due to its strict nuclear safety regulation. The fields of nuclear engineering, fuzzy systems and soft computing have nevertheless matured considerably during the last decade. This book presents new application potentials for Fuzzy Systems and Soft Computing in Nuclear Engineering. The root of this book can be traced back to the series of the first, second and third international workshops on Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Technologies in Nuclear Science (FUNS), which were successfully held in Mol, September 14-16, 1994 (FLINS'94), in Mol, September 25-27, 1996 (FLINS'96), and in Antwerp, September 14-16, 1998 (FLINS'98). The conferences were organised by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCKeCEN) and aimed at bringing together scientists, researchers, and engineers from academia and industry, at introducing the principles of fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms and other soft computing methodologies, to the field of nuclear engineering, and at applying these techniques to complex problem solving within nuclear industry and related research fields. This book, as its title suggests, consists of nuclear engineering applications of fuzzy systems (Chapters 1-10) and soft computing (Chapters 11-21). Nine pertinent chapters are based on the extended version of papers at FLINS'98 and the other 12 chapters are original contributions with up-to-date coverage of fuzzy and soft computing applications by leading researchers written exclusively for this book.

The research of Antanas Zilinskas has focused on developing models for global optimization, implementing and investigating the corresponding algorithms, and applying those algorithms to practical problems. This volume, dedicated to Professor Zilinskas on the occasion of his 60th birthday, contains new survey papers in which leading researchers from the field present various models and algorithms for solving global optimization problems.

This Festschrift volume is published in Honor of Yaacov Choueka on the occasion of this 75th birthday. The present three-volumes liber amicorum, several years in gestation, honours this outstanding Israeli computer scientist and is dedicated to him and to his scientific endeavours. Yaacov's research has had a major impact not only within the walls of academia, but also in the daily life of lay users of such technology that originated from his research. An especially amazing aspect of the temporal span of his scholarly work is that half a century after his influential research from the early 1960s, a project in which he is currently involved is proving to be a sensation, as will become apparent from what follows. Yaacov Choueka began his research career in the theory of computer science, dealing with basic questions regarding the relation between mathematical logic and automata theory. From formal languages, Yaacov moved to natural languages. He was a founder of natural-language processing in Israel, developing numerous tools for Hebrew. He is best known for his primary role, together with Aviezri Fraenkel, in the development of the Responsa Project, one of the earliest fulltext retrieval systems in the world. More recently, he has headed the Friedberg Genizah Project, which is bringing the treasures of the Cairo Genizah into the Digital Age. This first part of the three-volume set covers a range of topics in computer science. The papers are grouped in topical sections on: the jubilaris: Yaacov and his oeuvre; theory of computation; science computing and tools for engineering; information retrieval.

This monograph presents new methodologies to improve power plants' efficiency, by using automatic control algorithms. This will lead to an improvement in companies’ profit and also in the quality of their final product. A trans-Atlantic combination of authors ensures an unusually wide range of perspectives.