ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
August 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
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.
Nicolas Thiollière, Luca Zanini, Jean-Christophe David, Jost Eikenberg, Arnaud Guertin, Alexander Yu. Konobeyev, Sébastien Lemaire, Stefano Panebianco
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 169 | Number 2 | October 2011 | Pages 178-187
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE10-53
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The MEGAwatt PIlot Experiment (MEGAPIE) project was started in 2000 to design, build, and operate a liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) spallation neutron target at the power level of 1 MW. The target was irradiated for 4 months in 2006 at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Gas samples were extracted in various phases of operation and analyzed by spectroscopy, leading to the determination of the main radioactive isotopes released from the LBE. Comparison with calculations performed using several validated codes (MCNPX2.5.0/CINDER'90, FLUKA/ORIHET, and SNT) yields the ratio between simulated in-target isotope production rates and experimental amounts released at any given time. This work underlines the weak points of spallation models for some released isotopes. Also, results provide relevant information for safety and radioprotection in an accelerator-driven system and more particularly for the gas management in a spallation target dedicated to neutron production facilities.
