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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.
Bernhard Kienzler, Lara Duro, Karel Lemmens, Volker Metz, Joan De Pablo, Alba Valls, Detlef H. Wegen, Lawrence Johnson, Kastriot Spahiu
Nuclear Technology | Volume 198 | Number 3 | June 2017 | Pages 260-276
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1326271
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A consortium of 10 partners from seven European countries and the European Commission collaborated in investigating the short-term release of radionuclides from disposed spent nuclear fuel upon canister failure. The Collaborative Project FIRST-Nuclides was implemented in the scope of the 7th Euratom Framework Programme in the period from 2012 to 2014. The objectives and organization of the project are presented, as well as the experiments with highly radioactive materials under investigation. The outcome of the project summarizes the measured instant release fraction (IRF) of safety-relevant isotopes from high burnup spent UO2 nuclear fuels (SNFs). Specifically discussed are the dependencies of the IRF on the sample properties, the gap and grain boundary releases, and the behavior and IRFs of elements such as cesium, iodine, and selenium. The IRFs of nonstandard SNFs were also investigated. The summary is complemented by the presentation of the modeling approaches within the project.