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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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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.
Claire Luttrell, Ethan Coffey, Ira Griffith, Greg Hanson, Arnold Lumsdaine, Chuck Schaich
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 312-317
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1333847
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ITER Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) system consists of transmission lines made up of individual sections of evacuated, aluminum, circularly corrugated waveguides. The high-intensity beam of electromagnetic radiation, necessary for plasma heating, heats the waveguides and other components in the transmission lines causing the lines to expand and contract. To maintain the structural integrity and the required straightness in the transmission lines, expansion units have to be incorporated into the ECH transmission line system.
Calculations of several models of expansion units have been completed to evaluate the effect of the design and materials on the functionality of the expansion unit. Models have been evaluated assuming three different expansion ranges and several different materials.