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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 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.
Man Gyun Na, Won Il Ko, Hangbok Choi
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 142 | Number 3 | November 2002 | Pages 315-326
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE02-A2310
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A combination method of spent pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel is proposed that adjusts the fuel composition for direct use of spent PWR fuel in Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) reactors (DUPIC). This method reduces the composition heterogeneity (variation) of the DUPIC fuel caused by directly reusing spent PWR fuel as DUPIC fuel feedstock. In this study, a combination method was used to find the optimum mixture composition from the spent PWR fuel database by minimizing the composition variation of the major fissile isotopes 235U and 239Pu. The simulation results have shown that the combination method can reduce the composition variation of 235U and 239Pu to 0.11 and 1.40%, respectively, through assemblywise mixing operation only. It is also believed that the result could be improved further through a rodwise combination technique if the isotopic composition of each spent PWR fuel rod is known by direct measurement during the DUPIC fuel fabrication process.
