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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
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.
January 22, 2025|10:30–11:30AM (11:30AM–12:30PM EST)
Available to All Users
Outreach doesn’t always happen where it is needed most. Nuclear organizations that seek to engage with historically underrepresented and under-resourced communities or schools face challenges unique to the individual community or school, which can limit or outright eliminate opportunities for connection. This discussion will feature panelists who have formed connections between a nuclear organization and a local underrepresented community. It is a call to action to be more intentional about conducting nuclear outreach equitably.
ANS Local and Student Sections and other nuclear organizations often conduct recruitment and science literacy outreach in communities and K-12 schools with existing interpersonal connections or where it is geographically convenient, unintentionally propagating the exclusion of underrepresented communities in the nuclear industries.
Further, ANS Sections that seek to engage with historically underrepresented and under-resourced communities or schools face challenges unique to the individual community or school, which can limit or outright eliminate opportunities for connection. These challenges include but are not limited to a lack of trust across class or racial differences, a lack of trust in the nuclear industry, language barriers, perceptions of dissimilarity, misaligned schedules, misunderstanding of cultural norms, and misalignment between the type of engagement offered and the needs of the community or school.
The Diversity and Inclusion in ANS (DIA) Committee will be hosting an upcoming three-part training series to guide ANS sections and other members of the nuclear community in overcoming these challenges and forming sustainable long-lasting relationships with historically underrepresented and under-resourced groups.
Scott Lathrop
CEO, ytt Northern Chumash Nonprofit, California
Bea Valencia Hernandez
Technical Recruiter, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Canterra Simerly
Academy Coach, Austin-East High School, Tennessee
Lisa Marshall
NC State University and ANS President
Ira Strong
Diversity and Inclusion in ANS Committee Member