A universal orientation language is introduced for nuclei treated as internally structured four-dimensional bodies. The purpose of the standard is to provide a consistent way to describe nuclear poles, transverse axes, surface sectors, and derived directional features in both human-readable and machine-rigorous form. This system is named NORA for Nuclear Orientation Reference Axes. NORA is built on an orthonormal nuclear body frame P, T1, T2, T3, whose signed pole pairs are named North/South, Crown/Root, Fore/Aft, and Ana/Kata. Any nuclear direction is represented in this frame by ordered body-frame coordinates and may also be rendered into standardized prose by dominant-component rules. A deterministic assignment algorithm is defined using proton-pole alignment, transverse proton-neutron contrast, and geometric completion, together with explicit fallback logic and a provisional protocol for weakly and strongly degenerate cases. The paper also distinguishes frame axes from derived physical directions such as proton-hot, neutron-rich, weak-barrier, and best-approach directions, which are expressed within the body frame rather than treated as new axes. Recommended machine-readable CSV and JSON schemas are specified so that the standard may be used directly in computational nuclear workflows. NORA is proposed as a foundational descriptive standard for later work on four-dimensional nuclear structure, directional barrier analysis, clustering, vibrational behavior, and fusion approach geometry.
Stephen Euin Cobb (Sat,) studied this question.