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.
Kieran Dolan, Steven Huang, Micah Hackett, Lin-Wen Hu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 10 | October 2021 | Pages 1578-1598
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1829428
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Mitigating the release of tritium produced from neutron irradiation of molten salts containing lithium or beryllium is a technical challenge for several advanced reactor designs. In a pebble bed Fluoride-Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor (FHR), tritium generated in the Li2BeF4 (Flibe) coolant is expected to interact with the large inventory of graphite in the core. The degree to which tritium is retained in the FHR core graphite is important to understand in order to predict the tritium distribution in the reactor, operational dose rates in the plant, tritium source term, and optimal strategies to mitigate environmental release. Tritium retention in graphite is simulated in this work based on a model that considers tritium diffusion from Flibe into graphite pores as well as diffusion and trapping in graphite grains. The retention model was implemented into the TRIDENT model framework to study tritium transport at the FHR system level. Tritium permeation through the FHR primary heat exchanger was the largest source of release from the primary system, followed by tritium retention and recirculation of graphite fuel pebbles.