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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Masanori Hara, Miki Shoji, Tsukasa Aso
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 76 | Number 3 | April 2020 | Pages 163-169
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1661720
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Liquid scintillation counters (LSCs) have been widely used for low-level tritium measurements. To obtain an accurate tritium activity using a LSC, a quenching correction is required. The quenching occurs from interruptions to the scintillation process (chemical quenching) and by absorption of scintillation photons by colored substances (color quenching). There is no common method for the correction of color quenching. Here, two-dimensional (2-D) scintillation spectra were measured with a conventional LSC connected to an external multichannel analyzer. The LSC had two photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A 2-D spectrum was constructed from pulse heights from both PMTs. In a less-quenching cocktail, the 2-D scintillation spectra extended along a 45-deg line. However, the shape of the spectrum broadened with increasing color quenching and thus gave information about the color quenching. The effect of color quenching was qualitatively less significant in the relationship between the tritium counting efficiency and the quenching index parameter.