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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!
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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.
Sven Bader (AREVA), Collin Dolan, Dmytro Zaytsev, Daniel Gryder, Nicholas Cesmat, Qutaiba Enaya, Michael Segura (Univ of North Carolina at Charlotte)
Proceedings | 16th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference (IHLRWM 2017) | Charlotte, NC, April 9-13, 2017 | Pages 568-579
AREVA revisited the Dry Transfer System (DTS) [1] developed in 1996 by TransNuclear (another AREVA subsidiary) under a public-private partnership between the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and examined the ability to redevelop its design in order to meet potential repackaging needs for used/spent nuclear fuel (UNF). The original purpose of the DTS was to transfer UNF from smaller bolted cask systems to larger bolted cask systems and the proposed redesigned DTS is envisioned to perform repackaging activities from multiple differently designed cask systems, including those with canisters that will require cutting and welding activities. The redesigned DTS is also to provide operational flexibility by allowing for the repackaging of UNF from several cask systems at the same time by providing lag storage and will include a means for examining UNF during repackaging. Finally, the feasibility of redesigning the DTS to be a mobile facility to allow it to be used at multiple reactor sites,especially the “stranded” sites where no spent fuel pools exist, was examined. This paper provides a summary of: the DTS design, which was evaluated by the NRC [2] and portions of which were cold-tested at Idaho National Lab [3]; the revised design criteria for an updated DTS; and conceptual layouts of the revised DTS. A revised DTS is envisioned to provide an important tool for the future management of UNF in preparation for transportation, re-storage, and/or disposal and also provides a means for repackaging UNF in case recovery from a cask/canister system is necessary (e.g., due to extended storage).