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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.
G. J. Ehrhardt, S. Symes, R. K. Guimon, K. R. Zinn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 110 | Number 4 | April 1992 | Pages 369-373
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE92-A23910
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Several radioisotope generator systems exist in which the carrier-free daughter product would precipitate if present in macro amounts at pH levels at which the parent is soluble. Included among these are the 68Ge/68Ga, 90Sr/90Y, and 47Ca/47Sc pairs. In these systems, chemical separation can be achieved by Fajans adsorption of the radiocolloidal daughter products onto surfaces such as activated glass microspheres at an appropriate pH, followed by washing to remove the parent solution and desorption of the daughter crop by acid washes. Investigation of the Ge/Ga and Sr/Y systems demonstrated that this solid-phase extraction method is erratic, but can give daughter yields as high as 89% with separation factors up to ∼10000 from parent isotope. This method has the potential for producing daughter isotopes with a minimum of metal and organic impurities for labeling cells, receptor binding ligands, and antibodies for diagnostic and radiotherapeutic purposes.