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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
J. Pace VanDevender
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 8 | Number 1 | July 1985 | Pages 433-440
Large Project | Proceedings of the Sixth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (San Francisco, California, March 3-7, 1985) | doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A40082
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II (PBFA II) is being constructed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) with initial operation scheduled for January 1986. PBFA II is the only facility currently under construction that has the possibility of achieving ignition or breakeven in the laboratory. It will deliver 1 to 2 MJ of lithium ions for experiments covering a wide range of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) target designs. PBFA II will be used for studying weapons physics and implosion hydrodynamics in the near-term. In the early 1990s, we anticipte that PBFA II could be modified to produce a pulse-shaping option for exploring high-gain target physics. The achievement of high-gain may require a different accelerator. The potential advantages of pulsed power driven light ions for an energy application include very low cost, small size, small capital investment for an initial power plant, and greater than 20% efficiency for economical power production.
