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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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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. Borrelli, Joonhang Ahn, Yongsoo Hwang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 197 | Number 3 | March 2017 | Pages 248-264
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2016.1273713
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Many nations are expanding or initiating nuclear energy programs as part of a national energy portfolio. Transitioning to advanced nuclear energy systems improves sustainability and promotes energy independence. These advanced nuclear energy systems also must be shown to enhance safety, safeguards, and security in order to be realistically deployed. This is of particular concern to non–nuclear weapons states, to assure compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency treaty obligations. Consequently, the relatively new research area of safeguardability addresses how to integrate goals for safety, safeguards, and security as part of a design strategy for an advanced fuel cycle. This paper presents an overall set of principles that form the foundation of a comprehensive safeguardability methodology, including the quantitative modeling studies derived therein. Results show an approach for characterizing used fuel, functional components to engineering design for nuclear materials handling facilities, and repository analysis. We conclude with an argument for the necessity of an integrative, systems assessment approach to the safeguardability of an advanced fuel cycle.