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Conference Spotlight
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.
D. C. Anderson
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 7 | Number 5 | May 1960 | Pages 468-471
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE60-A25746
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal neutron flux kernel for a point fission source in a hydrogenous medium is obtained analytically by representing the epithermal slowing down source in a convenient functional form. Normalization is achieved by invoking an appropriate conservation condition. The temperature dependence is then assessed from experimentally determined variation in the diffusion length and appropriate variation in the fitting parameters for the slowing down source. It is concluded that the kernel for water is rather insensitive to change in the diffusion length, and in fact, the r2-flux varies to a good approximation as f(ρr), ρ being the temperature-dependent specific gravity.