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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
Dr. Clarke Williams was the ninth president of the American Nuclear Society and a charter member.
Dr. Williams was born on December 18, 1903. He was an expert in neutron physics, gaseous diffusion and related fields contributing to the development of the atomic bomb.
He began his career working for the Duke Price Power Company in Quebec and the New York Central Railroad before joining Columbia University as an assistant in the physics department in 1926. In 1930 he joined the faculty of the College of the City of New York, leaving as an assistant professor in 1949.
Dr. Williams joined Brookhaven National Laboratory as senior physicist in 1946, after five years of work at Columbia University on a method of separating the U-235 isotope by gaseous diffusion, a step in the development of the atomic bomb. The project eventually became a part of the Manhattan Project, where Dr. Williams was a leader in the construction of a pilot plant. He was chairman of Brookhaven’s nuclear engineering department from 1952 until he was named deputy director in 1962. He was deputy director of the Brookhaven Laboratory from 1962 to 1967, when he was named deputy director emeritus.
In 1967, he became research administrator of the newly formed Regional Marine Resources Council of the NassauSuffolk Planning Board, and later served the council as a consultant.
Dr. Williams, received an bachelor’s degree from Williams College in 1922, a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1924, and a doctorate in physics from Columbia University in 1935.
Dr. Clarke Williams passed away on March 15, 1983.
