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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.
D. G. Czechowicz, C. J. Chen, J. A. Dorman, D. A. Steinman
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 4 | May 2007 | Pages 600-605
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST51-600
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A problem often observed for thick wall plastic targets is the presence of surface domes. We have been successful in applying mechanical polishing to remove isolated surface domes from thick wall 2 mm shells during a preliminary investigation. The background surface roughness for polished shells was dramatically improved with final values typically around 10 nm RMS as measured by WYKO patch surface profiles. The polishing sequence applied was also examined using AFM spheremapper data that was obtained for shells after each polishing step. A two-step polishing approach was able to produce shells that had significant improvement in all AFM power modes except for modes (3.10). Further polishing development is needed to reduce AFM low and mid power modes for shells. Polishing of otherwise target quality 2 mm shells that have domes could be a future treatment for NIF targets.