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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.
Sheng Fan, Xiaochun Shi, Fang Yan, Hongzhou Zhang, Zhixiang Zhao
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 147 | Number 1 | May 2004 | Pages 63-72
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE04-A2419
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To simplify the calculation, some assumptions are considered in the current work. The preequilibrium emission in the first step in the equilibrium process, which is characterized by exciton n = 3 and "never come back," is considered in the preequilibrium emission process; the alpha emission is only completed with the neutron and proton emission, and the second particle emission is neglected. Under those assumptions, a semiempirical systematics of the cross section for the (n,) reaction is obtained on the basis of the evaporation and exciton models for the energies ranging up to 20 MeV. Within the nuclide mass region of 23 A 209, a strong dependence on (N - Z + 1)/A and the incident neutron has been observed. The predictions of the semiempirical systematics with the global parameter of the excitation functions for the (n,) reaction are in good agreement with the experimental data.