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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.
Peter H. Margen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 38 | Number 2 | April 1978 | Pages 192-203
Technical Paper | Low-Temperature Nuclear Heat / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A32012
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Conventional and newer types of hot-water pipes are applied to the bulk transport of reject heat from central nuclear power plants to the district heating network of cities or groups of cities. With conventional pipes, the transport of 300 to 2000 MW of heat over distances of 30 to 100 km can be justified, while with newer pipe types, even longer distances would often be economic. For medium-size district heating schemes, low-temperature heat transport from simple heat-only reactors suitable for closer location to cities is of interest. For daily storage of heat on district heating systems, steel heat accumulators are currently used in Sweden. The development of more advanced cheaper heat accumulators, such as lake storage schemes, could make even seasonal heat storage economic. Newer distribution technology extends the economic field of penetration of district heating even to suburban one-family house districts. With proper design and optimization, nuclear district heating can be competitive in a wide market and achieve very substantial fossil-fuel savings.