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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.
C. C. Petty, M. E. Austin, J. Lohr, T. C. Luce, M. A. Makowski, R. Prater, R. W. Harvey, A. P. Smirnov
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 57 | Number 1 | January 2010 | Pages 10-18
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST10-A9264
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recent experiments on the DIII-D tokamak have examined the effect of particle transport on the electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) profile using measurements of the magnetic field pitch angles by motional Stark effect polarimetry. While previous ECCD studies on DIII-D did not observe any clear effects of transport, these new experiments at high ECCD power, low density, and radiation temperatures above 20 keV clearly demonstrate that the ECCD profile can be reduced and broadened compared to the Fokker-Planck code CQL3D predictions assuming no radial transport. A diffusion coefficient of [approximate]0.4 m2 /s is required in CQL3D to reproduce the experimental ECCD profile at high relative power densities, while smaller diffusion coefficients are needed at low relative power densities. This level of transport is comparable to the effective particle transport rate needed to maintain the density profile but an order of magnitude less than the electron thermal diffusivity. While radial transport of the current-carrying electrons is potentially detrimental for applications that rely on strong localization of the noninductive current, this effect should be negligible on ITER owing to its large size and low relative power density.