ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
August 2025
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.
Enrico Lucon, Rik-Wouter Bosch, Lorenzo Malerba, Steven Van Dyck, Marc Decréton
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 895-900
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Fusion Materials | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A801
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For the last 20 years, fusion material programs in Europe, Japan and US have been focused on developing Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic (RAFM) steels as prominent structural materials. In the European Union, within the Long Term Programme of EFDA (European Fusion Development Agreement), considerable effort has been spent by several scientific institutions for the characterization and optimization of the European reference RAFM steel (EUROFER97). Within the Belgian Nuclear Centre (SCKCEN), an integrated approach to the characterization of EUROFER97 is being consistently applied; this includes: neutron irradiations in the BR2 reactor and subsequent characterization of the unirradiated and irradiated mechanical properties (tensile, impact and fracture toughness tests); investigation of environmentally assisted cracking (more specifically, study of the influence of irradiation damage on both EAC and embrittlement in Pb-Li alloys); multiscale modelling of radiation effects and specific effects on Fe-Cr systems, using methods which range from the atomic level (MD - Molecular Dynamics) to the mesoscopic level (KMC - Kinetic Monte Carlo). This paper will provide a general overview of the above mentioned investigations, as well as highlights of the most significant results obtained in the different fields of activity.