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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.
T. P. Bernat, N. Petta, B. Kozioziemski, S. J. Shin, D. R. Harding
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August-September 2016 | Pages 196-205
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-223
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Calorimetric measurements at University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics of D2 crystallization from the melt indicate that zinc can act as a heterogeneous nucleation seed with suppressed supercooling. We further studied this effect for a variety of zinc substrates using the optical-access cryogenic sample cell at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Small supercoolings are observed, some as low as 5 mK, but results depend on the zinc history and sample preparation. In general, thin samples prepared by physical vapor deposition were not effective in nucleating crystal formation. Larger (several-millimeter) granules showed greater supercooling suppression, depending on surface modification and granule size. Surfaces of these granules are morphologically varied and not uniform. Scanning electron microscope images were not able to correlate any particular surface feature with enhanced nucleation. Application of classical nucleation theory to the observed variation of supercooling level with granule size is consistent with nucleation features with sizes <100 nm and with wetting angles of a few degrees.