IAEA Meeting Focuses on Data Needs for Ion Beam Analysis, JINR Presents Progress in Nuclear Track Emulsion Research

From August 24 to 28, 2026, the International Atomic Energy Agency held a Technical Meeting on Data Requirements for Ion Beam Analysis in Vienna, Austria, attended by scientists and experts from multiple nuclear physics research institutions. Andrey Zaitsev, Senior Researcher at the High Energy Physics Laboratory of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, delivered a report at the meeting, presenting the current performance of nuclear track emulsions and research progress related to the BECQUEREL project.

The meeting focused on assessing whether existing nuclear data can meet the current and future application needs of ion beam analysis, and discussed new experimental methods, as well as the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in experiments and data processing. Topics included the demand for high-quality nuclear data such as elastic backscattering cross sections, nuclear reactions, and gamma-ray spectra, as well as the limitations imposed by insufficient existing data on quantitative analysis and uncertainty assessment. Meanwhile, participating experts also discussed the development of methods for nuclear data evaluation, validation, and propagation, along with future directions for the further development of the IBANDL database.

In a report titled "Modern Applications of Nuclear Emulsions in Heavy Ion Physics," Zaitsev presented results from studies of relativistic nuclear fragmentation using nuclear emulsions. Nuclear emulsions offer high spatial and angular resolution, enabling the study of correlations between fragments and the identification of low-energy nuclear states, including ^8Be, ^9B, and the Hoyle state of ^12C. The report also noted that advances in automated and intelligent microscopy, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are driving nuclear emulsion analysis from traditional single-event visual inspection toward research modes with higher statistical power.

The report also covered research related to the NICA accelerator complex. When combined with automated microscopy, nuclear emulsions can be used not only to study individual nuclear interactions but also to quantitatively analyze the spatial distribution and beam characteristics of heavy ion beams. The report further discussed the possibility of using CR-39 polymer solid-state track detectors as independent supplementary detectors for measuring beam profiles and fluences.

In addition, the report addressed the prospects of applying nuclear emulsions in studies of alpha radioactivity, nuclear fission, and low-energy ion beams. The discussions concluded that systematic calibration studies under various energy and irradiation conditions, based on known nuclear reactions and processes, are necessary to obtain data with high statistical significance, improve the metrological accuracy of nuclear track emulsions, establish reference experimental datasets, and promote the development of automated analysis methods. This report further familiarized the international scientific community with the latest performance of nuclear track emulsion technology and its application potential in ion beam research.