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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.
Christopher Kang, Yi-Hyun Park, Jon T. Van Lew, Alice Ying, Mohamed Abdou, Seungyon Cho
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 263-270
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1333830
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Characterizing the thermo-physical properties of the ceramic breeder pebble bed is an integral step of developing breeder blankets for fusion energy applications. To that end, thermal conductivity is an important parameter to identify. In granular pebble bed materials, the thermal conductivity depends on the solid pebble material as well as any gas filling the interstitial void spaces, thus an effective thermal conductivity () of the bulk is used. A transient hot-wire apparatus is developed through a collaborative study between the Fusion Science and Technology Center at UCLA and the National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) to measure the effective thermal conductivity of Korean-made Li2TiO3 pebble beds. In this study, current is pushed through a single strand of high purity platinum wire. The heat generated is conducted away by the surrounding pebble bed; the logarithmic change in temperature being used to calculate the rate of heat conductance. The apparatus is filled with roughly an atmosphere of helium and placed in a furnace to test the pebble bed under reactor relevant temperatures. Results and future improvements are presented.