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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.
Bruce Schmitt, Monte Elmore, Ed Love, Kim Burns
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 4 | May 2017 | Pages 634-638
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1293437
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods (TPBARs) use nickel plated, zirconium tubing for gettering tritium. However, during the development phase of the getter design only protium gas was used to determine getter rate. The verification phase of getter performance (product acceptance testing) also used only protium gas. Thus, isotope mass effects on getter rate were not evaluated. A modified getter rate test using both protium and deuterium gas was performed to determine isotope mass effects. Test procedures were developed to measure isotope effect on getter rate versus temperature while minimizing experimental uncertainties with respect to surface cleanliness and variability of test results between different specimens.