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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.
J. Hardy, Jr., G. G. Smith, J. A. Mitchell, D. Klein
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 12 | Number 2 | February 1962 | Pages 301-308
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE62-A26071
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Dancoff correction factor (1 − C) for U238 resonance neutron capture was measured for cylindrical, 0.98 cm diameter fuel rods at lattice pitches of 1.81 cm and 1.44 cm. The rods were 1.3% U235, arranged in a hexagonal, H2O-moderated lattice. Measurements were done for three fuel materials: uranium metal, UO2 (density 10.5 gm/cm3), and UO2 (density 7.5 gm/cm3) according to the following method. The ratio of U238 epicadmium neutron capture per atom at rod surface to that at rod center, S/V, was measured, for each fuel composition, at both lattice pitches and in an isolated rod (i.e., no Dancoff interaction). The quantity R ≡ [(S − V)/V]lattice/[(S − V)/V]isolated rod was, within experimental error, the same for all three fuel materials at each lattice pitch. Furthermore, within experimental error, R was found to be equal to (1 − C), calculated at each lattice pitch from Dancoff's expression. This agreement was expected from an analysis of the experiment in terms of a current model of resonance capture which indicated that R equals (1 − C) multiplied by two factors: one accounting for lattice mutual shielding of capture at rod center, the other accounting for the effect on S/V of the resonance flux lethargy tilt (due to loss of neutrons by resonance capture). Approximate calculations of these two effects showed that each perturbs R by about 10% in the worst case. The effects oppose each other so that very closely R = 1 − C.