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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.
Jose March-Leuba, Dan G. Cacuci, Rafael B. Perez
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 93 | Number 2 | June 1986 | Pages 124-136
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE86-A17664
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A physical model of nonlinear boiling water reactor (BWR) dynamics has been developed and employed to calculate the amplitude of limit cycle oscillations and their effects on fuel integrity over a wide range of operating conditions in the Vermont Yankee reactor. These calculations have confirmed that, beyond the threshold for linear stability, the reactor's state variables undergo limit cycle oscillations. This work shows that the amplitudes of these oscillations are very sensitive to changes in operating conditions and are not restricted to small magnitudes as observed in previous stability tests. Consequently, large-amplitude limit cycle oscillations become a possible scenario for BWR operation at low-flow conditions. The effects on fuel integrity of such large-amplitude oscillations have been studied in detail. In particular, it has been shown that limit cycles that oscillate with frequencies higher than 0.25 Hz and that reach the high-power safety scram level of 120% are not likely to compromise fuel integrity.