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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.
Jonathan Pierce (Johns Hopkins APL), Richard Ung (Johns Hopkins APL), Jake Ballard (Johns Hopkins APL), Tim Holgate (Johns Hopkins APL), Priestly Shuler (Johns Hopkins APL), Mousumi Mitra (Univ. Virginia), Rasdip Singh (Soal Technologies), Meiyong Himmtann (Johns Hopkins APL), Cheryl Sturm (Johns Hopkins APL), Scott Misture (Alfred Univ.), Joseph Poon (Univ. Virginia), Timothy Erickson (Johns Hopkins APL), Paul Ostdiek (Johns Hopkins APL), Rama Venkatasubramanian (Johns Hopkins APL)
Proceedings | Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS 2023) | Idaho Falls, ID, May 7-11, 2023 | Pages 335-339