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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 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!
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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.
Nicolo’ Abrate, Sandra Dulla, Piero Ravetto, Paolo Saracco
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 8 | August 2023 | Pages 2047-2071
Technical papers from: PHYSOR 2022 | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2022.2134685
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The adoption of multiplication eigenvalue is a well-established approach for the design of nuclear reactors. However, despite its popularity and nice physico-mathematical properties, this eigenvalue formulation is not able to provide quantitative information about what parameters the designer has to modify. In this paper, a novel generalized eigenvalue formulation is introduced to disclose the full potential of the neutron transport equation for core design applications. To illustrate the advantages of this new design-oriented approach with respect to traditional methods, some relevant problems arising in the physics of reactors are solved, such as the determination of the absorber density in the control rods and of the fissile concentration in the molten salt fast reactor.