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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.
A. Boschi, T. Palma, S. Sarto, G. Cambi, G. Zappellini, H. Djerassi, J. Rouillard
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | March 1989 | Pages 803-808
Safety and Environment — I | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A39793
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The safety analysis and risk assessment of a Tokamak Test Reactor is approached by an iterative, probabilistic, system study methodology, jointly devoloped by ENEAa and CEAb. The first part of this methodology consists of a safety related functional analysis of the plant. That is developed in a quite systematic and exhaustive way, aiming at the identification of all the process functions and their modes of loss, so as to forecast all the possible initiating events of safety relevant accident sequences, and their subsequent evolution. This aim is achieved making use of functional interaction and interface matrices, functional fault trees and event trees. The second part concerns the overall plant risk assessment. This is performed using PRA (Probabilistic Risk Assessment) concepts and methods to work out the probabilistic quantification of the system event trees (and linked fault trees), and the evaluation of the related consequences. The methodology is applied by iterations, following the different stages of the plant design development. The first iteration has been applied to the safety analysis of the “Vacuum”, “Tritium and Fuel Handling”, “Blanket” and “First Wall and Divertor” systems of a Tokamak Test Reactor, with a particular reference to NETc. aThe Italian National Committee for the Nuclear Energy and Alternative Energies. bCommissariat à l'Energie Atmoque, the French Natinal Commissariat for the Atomic Energy. cNext European Torus, IPP Garching, Germany F.R.