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.
O. D. Simpson, F. B. Simpson, J. A. Harvey, G. G. Slaughter, R. W. Benjamin, C. E. Ahlfeld
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 55 | Number 3 | November 1974 | Pages 273-279
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE74-A23454
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron transmission measurements have been made on two high-purity samples of 243Am having inverse thicknesses of 1288.2 and 279.3 b/atom, respectively. Data were collected from 0.5 to 1000 eV using the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator. High resolution data were taken using 10- and 30-nsec bursts of 140-MeV electrons, 10-nsec channel widths, and a flight path of 18.576 m. An average value of Ty of 39 ± 1 meV was determined from shape analysis of 24 resonances below 18 eV. Single-level Breit-Wigner resonance parameters were obtained from area analysis up to 250 eV. The average level spacing between resonances was found to be 0.68 ± 0.06 eV. An s-wave neutron strength function of (0.96 ± 0.10) × 10≈4 was determined from the resonance parameters, The resonance-absorption integral for neutrons with energies above 0.625 eV was determined to be 1810 ± 70 b from the resonance parameters.
