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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
The RAIN scale: A good intention that falls short
Radiation protection specialists agree that clear communication of radiation risks remains a vexing challenge that cannot be solved solely by finding new ways to convey technical information.
Earlier this year, an article in Nuclear News described a new radiation risk communication tool, known as the Radiation Index, or, RAIN (“Let it RAIN: A new approach to radiation communication,” NN, Jan. 2025, p. 36). The authors of the article created the RAIN scale to improve radiation risk communication to the general public who are not well-versed in important aspects of radiation exposures, including radiation dose quantities, units, and values; associated health consequences; and the benefits derived from radiation exposures.
M. Borghesi, J. Fuchs, S. V. Bulanov, A. J. MacKinnon, P. K. Patel, M. Roth
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 3 | April 2006 | Pages 412-439
Technical Paper | Fast Ignition | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1159
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The acceleration of high-energy ion beams (up to several tens of mega-electron-volts per nucleon) following the interaction of short (t < 1 ps) and intense (I2 > 1018 Wcm-2m-2) laser pulses with solid targets has been one of the most active areas of research in the last few years. The exceptional properties of these beams (high brightness and high spectral cutoff, high directionality and laminarity, and short burst duration) distinguish them from the lower-energy ions accelerated in earlier experiments at moderate laser intensities. In view of these properties, laser-driven ion beams can be employed in a number of groundbreaking applications in the scientific, technological, and medical areas. This paper reviews the main experimental results obtained in this area in recent years, the properties of the accelerated beams, the relevant theoretical and computational models, and the main applications that have been implemented or proposed.