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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
D. Dobrott
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 339-347
Alternate Fuels | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22888
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Alternate fusion fuels, i.e., fuels based on cycles other than d-t, are advocated because of apparent safety and environmental advantages, such as low activation of reactor materials and the relaxation of the requirement for tritium breeding that one needs for a d-t fusion reactor. Nevertheless, the lower fusion reaction rates and the higher required operating temperatures have suggested that the reactor performance would be inferior to that of a d-t reactor. This question of reactor performance relative to fuel cycle is examined here in the restricted context d-t versus d-d (with variations) In tokamaks, reversed-field pinches and tandem mirrors, although results relative to other concepts and cycles are reviewed. Each reactor concept is assessed relative to the relevant physics, engineering, cost and safety issues. There are distinct physics and technical leverages for each of the concepts, but many common features as well. For example, all three concepts require no blanket tritium breeding and have a much lower tritium inventory than their d-t counterparts, as well as, longer blanket lifetime, greater blanket efficiency, higher neutron energy multiplication and less activation. The physics constraints are not necessarily greater and cost per net power output between d-t and d-d reactors can be comparable.