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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.
Carlos E. Velasquez, Graiciany P. Barros, Claubia Pereira, Maria Auxiliadora F. Veloso, Antonella L. Costa
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 3 | October 2015 | Pages 625-629
Technical Paper | Proceedings of TOFE-2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-949
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Different first wall material proposals based on tungsten alloy WNiFe, WLa2O3, W1.1TiC, W26Re, beryllium alloy S-B65, stainless steel SS316 and graphite have been studied in the last years. These materials must be capable of withstanding high temperature and neutron flux. Nevertheless, using hybrid systems, the first wall material choice could influence the criticality system due to the different properties of each material. To analyze this influence, two hybrid reactors were evaluated. The first one is a Tokamak based on magnetic confinement and the second one based on inertial confinement. Both systems contain a transmutation layer with reprocessed fuel spiked with thorium. The results showed the principal nuclides affected in the transmutation layer and the differences in the criticality due to neutron flux variations produced by the changes in the first wall material.