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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.
Y. Ikeda, C. Konno, H. Maekawa
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 116 | Number 1 | January 1994 | Pages 19-27
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE94-A21477
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In view of the importance of so-called “sequential reactions”in fusion reactor structural materials, the production of radioactivity due to sequential reactions associated with protons emitted via (n,xp) reactions with 14.9-MeV neutrons has been measured. The effective production yields with respect to 14.9-MeV incident neutrons produced by sequential reactions were obtained for the radio active products of 48 V, 56Co, and 64Zn in titanium, iron, and copper, respectively. The values were 14.7 ± 1.9, 4.6 ±0.3, and 11.4 ± 1.9 μb, respectively. The effective production cross section was estimated on the basis of all relevant data on (n,xp) and (p,n) cross sections, proton emission spectra, and the proton stopping power in these materials. This analysis gave values 22% larger, 29% smaller, and a factor of 5.6 smaller than the measured values for these reactions, respectively. The range of these discrepancies is not unreasonable considering the large uncertainties in the data base used in the estimation.