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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
Mónica Chillarón Pérez, Vicente E. Vidal, Gumersindo J. Verdú, Gregorio Quintana-Ortí
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 198 | Number 2 | February 2024 | Pages 193-206
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2199677
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The use of iterative algebraic methods applied to the reconstruction of computed tomography (CT) medical images is proliferating to reconstruct high-quality CT images using far fewer views than through analytical methods. This would imply reducing the dose of X-rays applied to patients who require this medical test. Least-squares methods are a promising approach to reconstruct the images with few projections obtaining high quality. In addition, since these techniques involve a high computational load, it is necessary to develop efficient methods that make use of high-performance-computing tools to accelerate reconstructions. In this paper, three least-squares methods are analyzed—Least-Squares Model Based (LSMB), Least-Squares QR (LSQR), and Least-Squares Minimal Residual (LSMR)—to determine whether the LSMB method provides faster convergence and thus lower computational times. Moreover, a block version of both the LSQR method and the LSMR method was implemented. With them, multiple right-hand sides (multiple slices) can be solved at the same time, taking advantage of the parallelism obtained with the implementation of the methods using the Intel Math Kernel Library. The two implementations are compared in terms of convergence, time, and quality of the images obtained, reducing the number of projections and combining them with a regularization and acceleration technique. The experiments show how the implementations are scalable and obtain images of good quality from a reduced number of views, with the LSQR method being better suited for this application.