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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.
W. Hage, D. M. Cifarelli
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 112 | Number 2 | October 1992 | Pages 136-158
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE92-A28410
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A mathematical model is derived for the factorial moments of the probability distribution of neutron signal multiplets within signal-triggered inspection intervals, detected with a paralyzing neutron dead-time counter. These moments are a function of the spontaneous fission rate, the (α ,n) reaction rate, the probability that a neutron generates an induced fission, the neutron detection probability, the dead time, and the nuclear physics data. Monte Carlo calculations are used to check the derived algorithms and the iterative procedure. This procedure is then applied to real measurement data of a PuO2 sample to obtain the correlated multiplets from the numerical values of the factorial moments.
