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Conference Spotlight
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.
K.-J. Boehm, N. Hash, D. Barker, T. Döppner, M. P. Farrell, P. Fitzsimmons, D. Kaczala, D. Kraus, B. Maranville, M. Mauldin, P. Neumayer, K. Segraves
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August-September 2016 | Pages 324-331
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-242
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Reconciling the experimental and system requirements during the development of a new target system is one of the most challenging tasks in the design and engineering of targets used in the National Ignition Facility.
Targets for the GigaBar 3 campaign were meant to allow the detection of extremely weak Thomson scattering from matter at extreme densities in the face of very bright backlighter and laser entry hole plasma emissions. The problem was to shield the detector sufficiently while maintaining beamline and view clearances, and observing target mass restrictions.
A new construction process, based on a rapid prototype frame structure, was used to develop this target. Details of the design process for these targets are described, and lessons from this development for production and target assembly teams are discussed.