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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.
Shelly X. Li
Nuclear Technology | Volume 162 | Number 2 | May 2008 | Pages 144-152
Technical Paper | First International Pyroprocessing Research Conference | doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A3941
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Idaho National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory have developed and demonstrated a pyroprocessing technology for the U.S. Department of Energy to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. One of the key steps in the pyroprocessing was electrorefining the spent fuel in a metal form in a molten LiCl-KCl-UCl3/liquid cadmium (Cd) system using the Mark-IV, an engineering-scale electrorefiner (ER). This paper summarizes experimental observations and engineering aspects for the roles of the Cd in electrorefining spent fuel in the Mark-IV ER. It was found that the Cd pool acted as an intermediate electrode during the electrorefining process. The Cd level gradually decreased because of its high vapor pressure at the ER operating temperature. The low Cd level caused the anode assembly to electrically short with the ER vessel hardware, which resulted in difficulty determining the endpoint of uranium dissolution from the anode baskets and reduced the current efficiency. A reflux Cd vapor trap successfully prevented the Cd level from decreasing and mitigated Cd vapor deposition on the cold metal surface inside the ER.