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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.
Alain Hébert
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 151 | Number 1 | September 2005 | Pages 1-24
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE151-1-24
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Improvement of the lattice code component related to resonance self-shielding calculations is described. The proposed self-shielding model is based on a subgroup flux equation with probability tables, as implemented in the CALENDF approach of P. Ribon. A new type of correlated two-dimensional probability table is introduced for the representation of the slowing-down effect in the resolved energy domain. The resulting formalism makes possible a better representation of distributed self-shielding effects.A new numerical scheme is also proposed to represent the mutual shielding effect of overlapping resonances between different isotopes in the context of the Ribon subgroup equations. The interference effects between two resonant isotopes are represented by a correlated weight matrix also computed using a CALENDF approach. The model was designed with the primary goal of allowing the straightforward replacement of legacy self-shielding components in typical lattice codes to gain improved accuracy without any noticeable increase in CPU resources.Finally, a validation is presented where the absorption rates are compared with exact values obtained using a fine-group elastic slowing-down calculation in the resolved energy domain. Other results, relative to Rowland's pin-cell benchmarks, are also presented. The need to represent mutual shielding effects, at least for mixed-oxide fuel is demonstrated.