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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.
Lars Jäderberg
Nuclear Technology | Volume 38 | Number 1 | April 1978 | Pages 50-53
Technical Paper | Low-Temperature Nuclear Heat / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A16154
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Intermunicipal collaboration in Greater Stockholm has been in operation for several years. In parallel with this collaboration, the Stockholm municipality and the Swedish State Power Board have entered into a collaboration on a nuclear combined district heating power station (NHPS) in Greater Stockholm. These municipalities and the state have jointly studied the future heat supply for Greater Stockholm and, in particular, the alternative based on heat from an NHPS. The investigations embrace an NHPS located in Greater Stockholm or at the Fors-mark nuclear plant (future units 3, 4, and/or 5) and various alternatives in which Greater Stockholm is supplied with heat by expansion of oil-fired plants. Different technical solutions were taken into account—type of turbine, method of transporting hot water, various outgoing temperatures, etc.—and the alternatives have been evaluated on different assumptions regarding fuel prices, investment costs, energy forecasts, and continued nuclear power expansion. A brief and general summary of the results is not possible. Nevertheless, taking into consideration the circumstances in the Greater Stockholm area, the investigations show that district heating and combined district heating power stations will expand in the region. If the relation of costs between nuclear and oil power continues, the investigations indicate lower total annual costs of oil-based systems than systems based on an NHPS. This conclusion is valid even if the oil price should increase ∼50%, provided that the number of nuclear power units is independent of whether or not they are used for district heating. But if the heat extracted from the station implies that the number of nuclear power units may be increased, the best nuclear alternative will be more economical than the best oil-fired alternative.