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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.
Chongyang He, Cong Wang, Yong Liu, Lei Chen, Kun Zhang, Fujun Gou, Songlin Liu
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 6 | August 2023 | Pages 723-733
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2181045
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The lithium titanate (Li2TiO3) ceramic pebble bed is one of the main tritium breeder candidates in the solid blankets of fusion reactors. Under the extreme operating conditions of fusion blankets, such as neutron irradiation, high temperatures, structural material extrusion, and stress concentration, the mechanical characteristics of tritium breeding pebble beds not only affect the mechanical performance of the blanket but also affect tritium production and extraction. Therefore, an experimental apparatus was built to characterize the mechanical behavior of 0.47 and 0.99 mm Li2TiO3 pebble beds. A uniaxial compression test was performed under the cyclic mechanical loads of 4, 6, and 8 MPa, respectively. It was shown that large irreversible residual strain appeared in the Li2TiO3 pebble bed with the increase of loading cycles and that the mechanical characteristics of the pebble beds were greatly affected by different mechanical loads and particle sizes. The current results provide relevant experimental data that can support the design of fusion blankets.