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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
J. W. Maddox, W. M. Stacey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 158 | Number 1 | April 2007 | Pages 94-108
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3828
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Geologic repositories for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) are limited in their capacity by the amount of decay heat emitted by the SNF. The largest long-term contribution to this decay heat comes from the transuranics (TRUs), the destruction of which could increase storage capacity by a factor of at least 10. A design concept for a subcritical gas-cooled fast transmutation reactor (GCFTR) fueled with TRUs from SNF is being developed. This paper presents the results of analyses of several GCFTR fuel cycle scenarios that have a deep-burn (>90% burnup of the TRU fuel) primary objective and a secondary objective of avoiding reprocessing of the TRU fuel if possible.
