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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.
A. Szöke, R.W. Moir
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 1012-1021
Advanced Energy Conversion/Storage and Exotic Concepts | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946975
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This article describes, in broad outline, a nuclear power plant that generates power by means of repetitive, low-yield explosions in an underground chamber. Such a plant can be built in the near future by using modest extensions of existing technology, and it could be economically competitive if certain parts of the cost are controlled. This is in contrast to magnetic and inertial confinement fusion, of which the technical and economic feasibility will remain highly uncertain for the foreseeable future. Technical improvements of the envisioned plant can be introduced gradually with corresponding reductions in cost of power production. With advancing technology, an increasingly larger fraction of the power can be extracted from fusion reactions, thus providing a smooth transition to a fusion-based economy. Eventually, pure (inertial) fusion schemes could be incorporated into the power plant in a natural way, thereby shortening the time required to achieve large-scale use of fusion power–-possibly by decades. This article considers both the technical aspects of this route to fusion power and the relevant issues of public policy.