With the end of the Cold War, new opportunities for interaction have opened up between the United States and the countries of the Former Soviet Union. Many of these important initiatives involve the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINA TOM). Currently, collaboration is under way which involves reactor safety, the disposition of fissile materials from the weapons program, radioactive waste disposal, and the safety of nuclear warheads. Another fruitful area of interchange resulted from the radiochemical storage tank accident at the site of the Siberian Chemical Compound at Tomsk-7 in 1993. DOE and MINATOM agreed to meet and exchange information about the accident for the purposes of improving safety. A meeting on the Tomsk tank accident was held in Hanford, Washington in 1993, followed by a second meeting in st. Petersburg, Russia in 1994 in which the agenda expanded to include radiochemical processing safety. A third exchange took place in 1995 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and additional papers were presented on nonreactor nuclear safety. Following a planning session in 1996 in Seattle, Washington, it was decided to hold a fourth technical exchange on the broader subject of nuclear materials safety management. Through a grant from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Disarmament Programme, the meeting took place on March 17- 21, 1997, in Amarillo, Texas as a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) through grant no. DISRM 961315.

The Erice International School of Fusion Reactor Techno logy held its 1981 course on - Unconventional Approaches to Fusion - in combination with the IAEA Technical Committee meeting on - Critical Analysis of Alternative Fusion Concepts -. The two events took place in the second half of March with an overlap of a few days only. The present proceedings include the first week's papers; those presented during the second week will be summarised in Nuclear Fusion. Right from the beginning of the course, and in particular In R. Carruthers' opening talk, it was clear that an uncon ventional approach was considered stimulating insofar as its con ception presented advantageous aspects with respect to the To kamak. Indeed the Tokamak was recognized as an - imper fect frame of reference- (K. H. Schmitter) in the sense that, al though it deserves to be considered as a frame of reference for the other devices because it is the most advanced in the scientific demonstration of controlled thermonuclear fusion, as a fusion reactor, however, the Tokamak does not seem to be completely satisfactory either from an economic or from an operational point of view, if compared with that - enticing ogre -, the proven fission reactor (less enticing to the public). Comparison of a Tokamak reactor with a PWR can be founded on considerations of such a basic nature that it becomes almost automatic to ask how far the various unconventional ap proaches to fusion are exempt from the Tokamak's drawbacks."

The surplus of plutonium in the world is both an important security issue, and a fact with implications for nuclear energy and environmental policy internationally. The two perspectives are inextricably intertwined in considering options for dealing with the plutonium surplus. It was for this reason that two research programmes at the Royal Institute of International Affairs - respectively on Energy and Environment, and on International Security - jointly approached NATO with a view to organising a work shop on the issue. It was most welcome then to learn that the NATO Science Programe was already supporting plans for a workshop on the issue, initiated by Richard Garwin, and we were pleased to accept the resulting invitation to host that workshop. DrGarwin prepared the initial agenda and established contacts and initial approaches to many of the participants; we were able to develop the agenda further and extend participation in some complementary ways. The result was a most lively and broad-ranging internation al and inter-disciplinary discussion. As the hosts, the RIIA was also given lead responsibility for producing the pro ceedings of the workshop as a publication for NATO. Many of the papers to the work shop are more technical than usually involved in a workshop at the Royal Institute. Yet this is an area in which the policy options are unusually dependent upon a good under standing of the technical issues. which themselves are often a matter of dispute."

Some Key Issues in Remote Handling M. Becquet TELEMAN: A European Communities Robotics Programme for the Nuclear Industry B. Tolley 7 Practical Experience Using Teleoperated Technology: Teleoperated Devices Used in an Accelerator Coraplex R. Horne 15 Artificial Realities Techniques for Teleoperation of Robotic Systems D. Marini 21 Robot Motion Planning: A Survey C. Torras 27 Autonomous Mobile Robots and Teleoperation J. del R. MilZCm, C. Torms and M. Becquet 41 Kinematic Calibration in Remote Handling and Teleoperation Environment J. -M. Renders 55 Transporters for Teleoperations in JET T. Raimondi 87 Nuclear Teleoperation. Particular Challenges in Decommissioning Applications M. Decreton 109 Manipulators Mascot IV Used in JET and Prospects of Enhancement T. Raimondi and L. Galbiati 139 Position Sensing for Advanced Teleoperation in Nuclear Environment M. Decreton 163 Advanced Telerobotic Systems. Single-Master Multi-SLave Manipulator System and Cellular Robotic System T. Fukuda and K. Kosuge 195 Introduction to Robotics and Computer Vision J. E. Besanqon 209 The NET Remote Maintenance Programme D. Maisonnier and T. Reeve 243 Color Plates 259 Preface The solution to today's demand for safety in Industrial Processes and Plants involves more and more the use of teleoperated devices to avoid human exposure to hazards. Such hazards occur during operation and maintenance, in normal or accidental conditions, and during decommissioning at the end of the life time of installations. The year 1989 has represented, for Teleoperation, an important landmark with the closure of the first commercial nuclear power stations which have reached the end of their life time.

The first part of the conference explores two major environmental concerns that arise from fuel use: (1) the prospect that the globe will become warmer as a result of emissions of carbon dioxide, and (2) the effect upon health of the fine particles emitted as combustion products. The conference focused on the fact that there was lack of data direct enough to enable us to predict an entirely satisfactory result, and that makes policy options particularly difficult. With regard to (1) above, in the second half of the 20th century there were major increases in anthropogenic C02 emissions, and it is generally agreed that these were responsible for an increase in C02 concentrations. But the relationship between global temperature and CO2 concentrations remains murky. The principal problem is that water vapor is a more important greenhouse gas than C02 and that the concentrations of water vapor vary widely in time and space. The approach to this problem is probably, but not certainly, a positive feedback effect: as temperature increases so does the water vapor leading to further temperature increases. Scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tend to believe the general features of the models. Other scientists are often less convinced.

The use of tritium as a basic fuel material in a thermonuclear fusion reactor raises particular safety issues due to the combined effects of its physicochemical properties and its radioactive nature. Furthermore, the possibility of attaining further significant progress in developing and demonstrating the feasibility of tritium burning devices relies on the handling of tritium macroquantities, say tens of grams, in a safe and reliable manner. It is also certain that, apart from technological constraints, any validation and exploitation of thermonuclear fusion as a source of energy will be strongly conditioned by the application of stringent operational and environmental safety criteria derived from the norms of modern legislation and public acceptance considerations. This publication illustrates the most prominent safety aspects associated with the safe operation, maintenance and experimental utilization of a tritium handling facility. Besides the need for safe and reliable systems for tritium containment, monitoring and storage, particular attention is devoted to problems linked with tritium--material interaction and tritium processing, according to the different options applicable both to the tritium handling laboratory and future fusion devices. Selected topics, such as biological hazard, dosimetry, radiological protection and environmental safety are reviewed with particular attention to implications for operators and general public. Finally, outstanding experience gained during the recent JET operation and after many years of dismantling tritiated facilities at CEN--Valduc are illustrated. The book is principally addressed to scientists concerned with tritium R&D activities, as well as to designers and operators of tritium handling plants.

These are the proceedings of the 141h Winter \Vorkshop on Nuclear Dynamics, the latest of a serif'S of workshops that was started in 1~)78. This series has grown into a tradition. bringing together experimental and theoretical expertise from all areas of the study of nudear dynamics. Following tllf' tradition of the Workshop the program covered a broad range of topics aerof'S a large energy range. At the low energy end llluitifragmentation and its relationship to the nuclear liquid to gas phase transition was disclIssf'd in grf'at df'- tail. New pxpf'rimental data, refined analysis techniques, and new theoretical effort have lead to considerable progress. In the AGS energy range we see the emergence of systematic data that contribute to our understanding of the reaction dynamics. The workshop also showf'd that at CERN energies Itadronic data become much more precise and complet.e and a renewed emphasis on basic hadronic processes and hadronic struc- ture as a precondition to understand the initial conditions and a basis for systematic comparisons. Wolfgang Bauer Michigan State Univcr'sity Hans-Georg Ritter Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory v PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS The following table contains a list of the dates and locations of the previous Winter Workshops on Nuclear Dynamics as well as the members of the organizing committees. The chairpersons of the conferences are underlined.

The Editors have pleasure in presenting a further volume in the se ries to our international audience. Perhaps the most significant event of the passing year has been the publication by the IAEA of its study of the prob lem of continuing radiation protection in the lands surrounding Chernobyl. The major international project undertaken in 1990 and reported in 1991 is worth reading, not only for its assessment of how radiation protection intervention should be applied de facto in accident conditions, but equally for its account of the modern view of the philosophy of radiation protection. Some would, however, wish to argue that the acknowledgement by Iraq of its three-pronged development of nuclear weapons in conditions of secrecy and antagonism was equally significant and indeed as much a deter minant of the future of peaceful nuclear power as the Chernobyl accident. But it must be clear that the developments of weapons and electricity pro duction are not inescapably bound together; the Iraqi weapons program was not linked to any peaceful power development.

The management and disposal of radioactive wastes are key international issues requiring a sound, fundamental scientific basis to insure public and environmental protection. Large quantities of existing nuclear waste must be treated to encapsulate the radioactivity in a form suitable for disposal. The treatment of this waste, due to its extreme diversity, presents tremendous engineering and scientific challenges. Geologic isolation of transuranic waste is the approach currently proposed by all nuclear countries for its final disposal. To be successful in this endeavor, it is necessary to understand the behavior of plutonium and the other actinides in relevant environmental media. Conceptual models for stored high level waste and waste repository systems present many sCientific difficulties due to their complexity and non-ideality. For example, much of the high level nuclear waste in the US is stored as alkaline concentrated electrolyte materials, where the chemistry of the actinides under such conditions is not well understood. This lack of understanding limits the successful separation and treatment of these wastes. Also, countries such as the US and Germany plan to dispose of actinide bearing wastes in geologic salt deposits. In this case, understanding the speciation and transport properties of actinides in brines is critical for confidence in repository performance and risk assessment activities. Many deep groundwaters underlying existing contaminated sites are also high in ionic strength. Until recently, the scientific basis for describing actinide chemistry in such systems was extremely limited."

In this global wake-up call, nuclear physicist Jeff Eerkens explores remedies for the impending energy crisis, when oil and natural gas are depleted. The Nuclear Imperative demonstrates that solar, wind, and biomass power are incapable of supplying the enormous quantities of electricity and heat needed for manufacturing portable synthetic fuels to replace our current use of fossil fuels. It offers a fresh look at uranium-produced energy as the optimal affordable solution.

The mathematical technique of Monte Carlo, as applied to the transport of sub-atomic particles, has been described in numerous reports and books since its formal development in the 1940s. Most of these instructional efforts have been directed either at the mathematical basis of the technique or at its practical application as embodied in the several large, formal computer codes available for performing Monte Carlo transport calculations. This book attempts to fill what appears to be a gap in this Monte Carlo literature between the mathematics and the software. Thus, while the mathematical basis for Monte Carlo transport is covered in some detail, emphasis is placed on the application of the technique to the solution of practical radiation transport problems. This is done by using the PC as the basic teaching tool. This book assumes the reader has a knowledge of integral calculus, neutron transport theory, and Fortran programming. It also assumes the reader has available a PC with a Fortran compiler. Any PC of reasonable size should be adequate to reproduce the examples or solve the exercises contained herein. The authors believe it is important for the reader to execute these examples and exercises, and by doing so to become accomplished at preparing appropriate software for solving radiation transport problems using Monte Carlo. The step from the software described in this book to the use of production Monte Carlo codes should be straightforward.

This conference proceedings explores issues surrounding the replacement of existing nuclear power plants when they reach the end of their useful life. Topics covered include: Nuclear competitiveness regarding politics and power plant evolution; social acceptance regarding communication, information, waste, and safety proliferation; and durability regarding resources and effects on the environment.

Natural Convection in Composite Fluid-Porous Domains provides a timely overview of the current state of understanding on the phenomenon of convection in composite fluid-porous layers. Natural convection in horizontal fluid-porous layers has received renewed attention because of engineering problems such as post-accident cooling of nuclear reactors, contaminant transport in groundwater, and convection in fibrous insulation systems. Because applications of the problem span many scientific domains, the book serves as a valuable resource for a wide audience.

Modern nuclear physics is a well developed branch of physical science, with wide-ranging applications of its results in engineering and industry. At the same time, the development of a consistent theory of nuclei and nuclear processes presents certain problems. It is well known that the most important aim of nuclear physics is the study of nuclear structure and the explanation of properties on the basis of the interaction between nucleons which constitute nuclei. Difficulties of a modern theory of the nucleus are caused by both an insufficient knowledge of nuclear interactions and the multi particle character of nuclear systems. Experimental data on nuclear interactions do not contradict the hypothesis of the pair character of nuclear forces. However, the absence of rigorous meth ods of calculations of many particle nuclear systems with strong interaction makes it necessary to use macroscopic nuclear models to describe particular nuclear properties. Nuclear models have been developed in different ways, and the models themselves have been modified and complicated. In spite of the visible discrepancy, different models of the nucleus significantly supple ment one another. The development of nuclear models has led to considerable progress in the understanding of atomic nuclei. The current results of theo retical nuclear physics are reported in numerous scientific papers. The most important and relevant experimental and theoretical results can be found in many monographs, the best of which are written by well-known experts in the field."

TIlls book is the result of an effort made by several members of the Euratom Neutron Radiography Working Group (NRWG) to produce a new, revised and enlarged edition of the Neutron Radiography Handbooldlj (NRH), written by members of the NRWG and published in 1981, just before the First World Conference on Neutron Radiography (WCNR) (1981). Members of the NRWG have contributed with many papers both to the first (1981)[2), as well as the second (1986)[3) and third (1989) [4) World Conference on Neutron Radiography (WCNR). They were also among the editors of the proceedings of those conferences (1982, 1987, 1990). The NRWG was constituted mainly for the purpose of promoting neutron radiography (NR) in the field of nuclear reactor fuel. Therefore the next topical publication of the NRWG were Reference Neutron Radiographs of Nuclear Reactor Fuel (1984)[5). The book on Collimators for y Thermal Neutron Radiograph 6/ written in 1987 by a member of the NRWG was another publication in the same series of books on NR. To the same series belongs the present book on Practical Neutron Radiography (PNR). It will be followed soon by another book written by the members of the NRWG: Neutron Radiography on Nitrocellulose Filmf71. The NRWG concentrated its interest in the past years on the problem of dimensional measurements from neutron radiographs. The results of the investigation of this problem were summarized in a special EUR report about the Neutron Radiography Working Group Test Program[8/ published in 1989.

The present volume reaffirms nuclear physics as an experimental science since the authors are primarily experimentalists and since the treatment of the topics might be said to be "experimental." (This is no reflection on the theoretical competence of any of the authors.) The subject of high-spin phenomena in heavy nuclei has grown much beyond the idea of "backbending" which gave such an impetus to its study five years ago. It is a rich, new field to which Lieder and Ryde have contributed greatly. The article "Valence and Doorway Mechanisms in Resonance Neutron Capture" is, in contradistinction, an article pertaining to one of the oldest branches of nuclear physics-and it brings back one of our previous authors. The Doppler-shift method, reviewed by Alexander and Forster, is one of the important new experimental techniques that emerged in the previous decade. This review is intended, deliberately, to describe thoroughly a classic technique whose elegance epitomizes much of the fascination which nuclear physics techniques have held for a generation of scientists. This volume concludes the work on the Advances in Nuclear Physics series of one of the editors (M. Baranger), whose judgment and style characterize that which is best in the first ten volumes. Many of our readers and most of our authors will be grateful for the high standards which marked his contributions and which often elicited extra labor from the many authors of the series.

25 Die Ventile leiten nur wahrend einer sehr kurzen Zeit, namlich dann, wenn das Potential der Anode positiv gegentiber der Kathode ist. Fig. 24 zeigt eine dreistufige Anordnung. Unter der Annahme idealer Ventile und unter Vernach- lassigung der Streukapazitaten stellen sich an den Knotenpunkten 3, 2, 1 und 3*,2*,1* die in Fig. 25 wiedergegebenen Spannungen ein. Der hier dargestellte, idealisierte Generator liefert eine Leerlaufspannung von 6 U , wobei mit U o o die Amplitude der Transformatorspannung Uocoswt bezeichnet ist. fJ) Der Kaskadengenerator bei Belastung. Wird der Kaskadengenerator durch einen Widerstand oder durch ein Beschleunigungsrohr belastet, so sinkt natur- 8!.1o ~-------~-----0 u/;!.Io r-------"-L---7"c----~L--0 J!.Io Ig / ] !.Iocoswt Fig. 25. Leerlau!spannungen beim Generator in Fig. 24. Fig. 26. Der belastete Kaskadengenerator. gemaB die Ausgangsspannung, und zwar umso starker, je groBer der Belastungs- strom Ig ist. Unter Ig wollen wir den vom Generator gelieferten, arithmetischen Mittelwert des Stromes, also den abgegebenen Gleichstrom verstehen. Wahrend einer Periode lit der Wechselspannung wird der Glattungssaule somit die Ladung Q= Ig (11.1) f entzogen. Falls ein stationarer Zustand bestehen solI, muB diese Ladung periodisch wieder zugeftihrt werden. Dies geschieht dadurch, daB wahrend einer Halbwelle der Wechselspannung die Ladung Q von den Punkten 3* nach 3, bzw. 2* nach 2 und 1 * nach 1 flieBt, wahrend in der andern Halbwelle die Ladung Q von Erde nach 3 * bzw. von 3 nach 2* und von 2 nach 1 * transportiert wird.

As we enter mid-19Bl, the Reagan administration is completing a review of U. s. nuclear waste management policy. Major revisions in the recently announced Carter administration policies are expected. Reagan is a strong supporter of civilian nuclear power and will probably encourage spent fuel reprocessing by the private sector. Meanwhile, the deep geologic disposal of defense nuclear waste in New Mexico moves ahead. In the coming months, discussion and debate of U. S. radioactive waste management policies will intensify in the Congress, in the technical community, and among environ mentalists and the public at large. An important element of the debate should be the scientific and technical issues of the safe disposal of radioactive wastes from both the civilian nuclear power fuel cycle and the defense fuel cycle, including naval pro propulsion programs and nuclear weapons production. The literature of waste management is voluminous, covering all aspects of the world-wide problem of safe disposal. The authors of this book have attempted to cri tically review this literature, selecting the more important reports to abstract. Our selection criteria were heavily influenced by considerations of policy issues and by our experiences in both the technical community and the regulatory environment. Our intent is to identify those reports we feel will contribute the most to the development of a national consensus on the safe disposal of existing and future nuclear wastes as yet another U. S. waste policy emerges in Washington."

This book is intended as an introductory exposition of those nuclear energy systems concepts which are characterized by an integrated utiliz ation of complementary nuclear processes. Basic to such systems is the notion of synergism, which herein implies the cooperative interaction of selected nuclear reactions and system components so as to provide overall advantages not possible otherwise. While the concept of nuclear energy synergism has in recent years become the focus of an increasing number of conferences, scientific papers, and institutional in-house reports, no text which encompasses the major topics of the subject at a conceptual and analytical level has appeared. It is our aim to present a systematic characterization of these emerging nuclear energy concepts suitable for the senior university student of nuclear science and engineering as well for the active pro fessional involved in nuclear energy systems planning and analysis. In addressing the subject of nuclear energy synergism we have become most conscious of the tension between realism and vision in nuclear energy technology. As developed here, our perception of nuclear energy synergism is firmly rooted in the present and then seeks to proceed toward a heightened degree of compatibility and efficacy based on an enhanced integration of relevant nuclear processes. It is our view that such conceptual considerations must assume a greater role in the emerging techological orientation of nuclear energy systems planning.

Most of this book was written before October 1973. Thus the statements concerning the energy crisis are now dated, but remain valid nevertheless. However, the term "energy crisis" is no longer the unusual new concept it was when the material was written; it is, rather, a commonplace expression for a condition with which we are all only too familiar. The purpose of this book is to point out that the science and technology of laser-induced nuclear fusion are an extraordinary subject, which in some way not yet completely clear can solve the problem of gaining a pollution-free and really inexhaustible supply of inexpensive energy from the heavy hydrogen (deuterium) atoms found in all terrestrial waters. The concept is very obvious and very simple: To heat solid deuterium or mixtures of deuterium and tritium (superheavy hydrogen) by laser pulses so rapidly that despite the resulting expansion and cooling there still take place so many nuclear fusion reactions tnat the energy produced is greater than the laser energy that had to be applied. Compression of the plasma by the laser radiation itself is a more sophisticated refinement of the process, but one which at the present stage of laser cechnology is needed for the rapid realization of a laser-fusion reactor for power generation. This concept of compression can also be applied to the development of completely safe reactors with controlled microexplosions of laser-compressed fissionable materials such as uranium and even boron, which fission completely safely into nonradioactive helium atoms.

This vOlume contains the invited and contributed papers pre sented at the American Nuclear Society (ANS) meeting on Decontamina tion and Decommissioning (D & D) of Nuclear Facilities, held Septem ber 16-20, 1979, in Sun Valley, Idaho. This was the first U. S. meeting of the ANS which addressed both of these important and related subjects. The meeting was attended by more than 400 engineers, scientists, laymen, and representatives of federal, state, and local governments, including participants from eleven foreign countries. The technical sessions included several sessions concentrating on ongoing D & D programs in the U. S. and abroad. In addition, "new ground" was broken in such areas as decommissioning costs and cost recovery, advanced programs on reactor coolant filtration, and other areas of continuing and increasing importance to the nuclear industry and to consumers. The dual sponsorship of the meeting (The ANS Reactor Operations Division and the Eastern Idaho Section of the ANS) helped spur a high quality program, a pleasant location, and a high degree of suc cess in technical interchange between the attendees. As guest speaker, we were honored to have Mr. Vince Boyer of Philadelphia Electric Company. Mr. Boyer is both a past chairman of the ANS Reactor Operations Division and a past president of the American Nuclear Society. His views on the nuclear industry and of its current status were informative and interesting."

This is the official record of the International Symposium on "The Role of Nuclear Engineering for an Uncertain Future" which was held on No vember 5 and 6, 1980, at Keidanren Hall in Tokyo, in connection with the 20th Anniversary of the Nuclear Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo. Eight specialists from all over the world were invited to contribute papers to the symposium, and the professors of our Department presented a paper each. The Symposium was divided into seven sessions, chaired by profes sors of the Department according to their specialties. About 200 scientists attended the symposium, and some of them joined the discussions. The symposium was fruitful and very successful from every point of view, and highly evaluated by the attendants as well as by con cerned people outside. This success is due to the successful organization and good performance of the staff of this symposium, to whom I would like to express my grat itude. I also hope that these proceedings will be useful to the specialists who are concerned with the uncertain future of nuclear engineering as well as with the role of Universities in that future."

E. L. Zebroski During the 1970s, there was rapid growth of a philosophy that assumes that deindustrialization will result in an Elysian postindustrial society. This view is generally antitechnology; commonly in opposition to large-scale energy sources; and often supportive of high-cost, speculative, or at most, small-scale energy sources. The social and economic costs of policies which would lead to dein dustrialization are ignored or considered to be irrelevant. The development of civilian nuclear energy as a by-product of wartime developments also brings with it an association with the fear of nuclear weapons and with the repugnance for war in general. Many of these views and associations mingle to provide significant political constituencies. These have had consid erable impact on party platforms and elections. Also, another important aspect is the conservation viewpoint. This view--correctly--concerns the fact that in definite increase in per capita energy consumption, coupled with increasing U.S. and world populations, must at some point be restrained by limits on resources as well as by limits arising from environmental effects. All of these concerns have been subject to voluminous analysis, publications, and public discussion. They underlie one of the dominant social movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Indefinite exponential growth of energy production is neither possible nor de sirable."

1. Lyotropic Liquid Crystals The class of compounds known as thermotropic liquid crystals has been widely utilized in basic research and industry during recent years. The properties of these materials are such that on heating from the solid to the isotropic liquid state, phase transitions occur with the formation of one or more intermediate anisotropic liquids. The unique and sometimes startling properties of these liquid crystals are the properties of pure compounds. However, there exists a second class of substances known as lyotropic liquid crystals which obtain their anisotropic properties from the mixing of two or more components. One of the components is amphiphilic, containing a polar head group (generally ionic or zwitterionic) attached to one or more long-chain hydrocarbons; the second component is usually water. Lyotropic liquid crystals occur abundantly in nature, particularly in all living systems. As a consequence, a bright future seems assured for studies on such systems. Even now, many of the properties of these systems are poorly understood. It is the purpose of this review to consolidate the results obtained from nuclear magnetic resonance studies of such systems and to provide a coherent picture of the field. Probably the most familiar example of a lyotropic liquid crystal is soap in water. A common soap is sodium dodecylsulphate where an ionic group (sulphate) is attached to a hydrocarbon chain containing twelve carbons.