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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.
John A. Adams, R. R. Roy
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 63 | Number 1 | May 1977 | Pages 41-47
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE77-A27002
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Protons from 252Cf fission have been studied to determine their origin by using a ΔE, E detector particle telescope. Both fission- and nonfission-related events are discussed as possible sources of the observed proton energy spectrum. The increased yield of low-energy protons, which peak at ∼3.2 MeV, seems to be due mainly to background (α,p) reactions. Evidence of polar proton emission is discussed and gives an estimated polar proton emission yield of 2.83 ± 0.18 × 10−5 per fission, with a most probable energy of 10.0 ± 0.2 MeV and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 7.6 ± 0.2 MeV. The yield of tripartition fission-related protons was then estimated to be 3.50 ± 0.20 × 10−5 per fission, with a most probable energy of 6.6 ± 0.2 MeV and an FWHM of 7.0 ± 0.2 MeV