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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.
Takashi Kiguchi, Shigehiro An, Akira Oyama
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 43 | Number 3 | March 1971 | Pages 328-340
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE71-A19979
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The energy modal synthesis method is applied to the computation of the neutron-multiplication factor, the sodium-void coefficient, and the spatial-power distribution of an idealized fast reactor configuration. The method is formulated by means of the variational principle and the error estimator is introduced by the expansion technique of the trial functions in the eigenfunction series. In the space-independent case, the sodium-void coefficient and its error are obtained very accurately by the linear combination of two modes, and the optimal two modes are chosen by the physical consideration. In the one-dimensional case, the continuous-type and the discontinuous-type energy modal synthesis method are formulated. In both cases the infinite-medium spectra and some supplementary modes are used as the trial energy modes. The results of a few-mode synthesis give a good estimate of the reactor parameters, and the error can be evaluated successfully by the error estimator.