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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.
G. L. Francis, J. R. Myra, D. A. D'Ippolito, P. J. Catto, R. E. Aamodt
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 12 | Number 2 | September 1987 | Pages 230-237
Fusion Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/FST87-A11963781
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A systematic study of magnetic designs has been carried out for three-cell choke coil quadrupole-stabilized tandem mirror reactors, comparable in size to the (octopole) MINIMARS design. In these designs, a single-mirror cell at each end of the machine serves as an end plug, thermal barrier, and magnetohydrodynamic anchor. The multiple functions of the end plugs make it difficult to simultaneously optimize the physics properties of the plasma (stability, radial confinement, and good particle drift orbits). Two different design approaches have been studied using recently developed magnetic optimization techniques. Typical physics figures of merit are given and critical issues discussed for each design. When the various constraints associated with the high-field choke coil are taken into account, it is found that an acceptable design is beyond the reach of present technology.