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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
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August 2025
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.
Technical Session|Fission Surface Power
Wednesday, May 7, 2025|1:00–2:40PM CDT|Salon EF (Marriott)
Session Chair:
Mark Lefebvre (NASA Glenn Research Center)
Session Organizer:
Alternate Chair:
Greg Fedor (NASA Glenn Research Center)
Track Organizer:
Harold Gerrish (Marshall Space Flight Center)
Space fission power systems will require extensive developmental and qualification testing prior to launch and in-space operations. This technical session will offer insight into several recent test efforts, including discussions of the test preparations, design and fabrication of test support equipment, and summaries of test results. Presenter bios: Luke Hansen is a Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville studying advanced fabrication techniques of thermoelectric materials for radioisotope thermoelectric generators.
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Design Methodology of a Pressurized Irradiation Test Apparatus for Stirling Convertor Organics in the Fission Surface Power Project
1:00–1:25PM CDT
Luke R. Hansen (Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville), Tyler R. Steiner (NASA Glenn Research Center), Brandon A. Wilson (ORNL), Michael T. Barron (Jacobs Technology)
Paper
Preliminary Findings of Lunar Dust Testing on Radiator Performance
1:25–1:50PM CDT
Ronald Leibach (NASA), Greeta Thaikattil (NASA), James Sanzi (HX5, LLC), Meghan Bush (NASA)
Impedance Spectroscopy for Unraveling Self-Healing Mechanisms in Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Alloys
1:50–2:15PM CDT
Oliver Jeffery (Univ. Leicester), Agostino Maurotto (Univ. Leicester), Pierluigi Chiovaro (Univ. Palermo), Pietro Alessandro Di Maio (Univ. Palermo), Richard M. Ambrosi (Univ. Leicester), Ramy Mesalam (Univ. Leicester)
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