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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.
R. A. Aikens, Y. Jia, Z. W. Lin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 175 | Number 1 | July 2011 | Pages 146-149
Technical Paper | Special Issue on the 16th Biennial Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division / Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT11-A12283
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We use the Geant4 Monte Carlo code to study the angular dependences of different radiation particles on the lunar surface in the 1977 solar minimum galactic-cosmic-ray environment when there is no habitat. In particular, we study the anisotropy of albedo particles on the lunar surface. We find that albedo particles are in general not isotropic in the upper hemisphere, and for neutrons or photons the deviations from isotropy at lower energies have opposite signs as those at higher energies. In terms of fluence rates, deviations from the corresponding isotropic fluence rate, i.e., the rate if the particles were isotropic in a hemisphere, range from -8% for albedo neutrons up to +58% for albedo protons. Results on other albedo particles such as electrons, positrons, photons, and charged pions are also presented.