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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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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.
Douglas E. Peplow
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 131 | Number 1 | January 1999 | Pages 132-136
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE99-A2024
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
New ways to calculate the direction cosines and polarization vectors for Monte Carlo photon scattering are developed and presented. The new approach for direction cosines is more physical, easier to understand, straightforward to implement, and - for simulations involving polarized photons - slightly faster than the traditional approach. The polarization vector after scatter is also presented.