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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.
F. T. Gould, T. I. Taylor, W. W. Havens, Jr., B. M. Rustad, E. Melkonian
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 8 | Number 6 | December 1960 | Pages 453-466
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE60-A25832
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The absorption cross sections of gold and boron have been measured at long neutron wavelengths with a single crystal spectrometer. Mica along with microcrystalline filters of Be and BeO was used as a monochromator for the wavelength range from 4 to 8.75 Å, and for longer wavelengths a mechanical monochromator was used to remove second and higher order neutrons. Neutron beams with negligible higher order contamination were obtained with a wavelength resolution Δλ/λ of 0.018. The total cross section of gold for wavelengths from 5 to 11.5 Å is σt = (54.56 ± 0.09) λ (0.46 ± 0.67) barns. Evaluation of the thermal neutron (2200 m/sec) absorption cross sections gave (98.8 ± 0.3) barns for gold and (7.56 ± 6) barns for boron in glass plates for use as secondary standards.
