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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.
UWC Plenary SPeaker
Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Dr. Rita Baranwal is Vice President of Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer. She has overall management and technical responsibility for the research and development activities conducted by EPRI with its global membership related to nuclear generation.
Baranwal joined EPRI in January of 2021 and leads a sector that provides research and development (R&D) to more than 80 percent of the world’s commercial nuclear fleet. Before joining EPRI, Baranwal served as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). She led efforts to promote R&D on existing and advanced nuclear technologies that sustain the U.S. fleet of nuclear reactors and enable the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems.
Prior to the DOE, Baranwal directed the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative at Idaho National Laboratory. Under her leadership, GAIN positively impacted over 120 companies by providing state-of-the-art R&D expertise, capabilities, and infrastructure to support deployment of innovative nuclear energy technologies.
Before GAIN, Baranwal was director of technology development and application at Westinghouse.
Baranwal is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society.
She has a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in materials science and engineering and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in the same discipline from the University of Michigan.
Last modified June 7, 2021, 2:55pm EDT
