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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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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.
S. Pearlstein
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 68 | Number 1 | October 1978 | Pages 10-18
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE78-A27265
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The probability table method (PTM), used in unresolved resonance region calculations, assumes that cross sections are not energy correlated. Strong cross-section energy auto-correlations are noted for some heavy nuclides that could affect the use of the PTM in the unresolved resonance region or its extension to the resolved resonance region. Uranium-238 has strong cross-section auto-correlations and is considered a severe test material for the PTM. Monte Carlo calculations of capture rates in 238U at 500, 1000, and 2000 eV do not show differences between the PTM and exact methods within an ∼1% calculational uncertainty. These results show that strong auto-correlations do not interfere with the use of the PTM in the resolved and unresolved resonance regions.
