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.
Matthew Boraas, Sudarshan K. Loyalka
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 193 | Number 3 | March 2019 | Pages 211-232
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1516953
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
While many issues affect the composition and quantity of the nuclear source term, one significant factor is the existence of aerosols. These aerosols, found in the containment structure and in the primary reactor vessel, are usually simulated with the assumption that they are spatially homogeneous. We describe here new investigations of the applications of the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method and a mesh-free technique to spatially inhomogeneous aerosol evolution in a number of nonspherical and complex geometries. Deposition, coagulation, and condensation aerosol processes are included, and results are reported for a sphere, ellipsoid, torus, elliptical cylinder, cuboid, and a spherical geometry containing an internal obstruction. Our progress here is a precursor to construction of an MCNP-like code for simulating aerosol evolution.