ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
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!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
August 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Noriaki Nakao, Shun-ichi Tanaka, Takashi Nakamura, Kazuo Shin, Susumu Tanaka, Hiroshi Takada, Shinichiro Meigo, Yoshihiro Nakane, Yukio Sakamoto, Mamoru Baba
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 124 | Number 2 | October 1996 | Pages 243-257
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE96-A28575
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron spectra in the energy range above 10-4 eV transmitted through iron shields succeedingly are measured with a BC501A liquid scintillation detector and the Bonner Ball detector using quasi-monoenergetic neutron sources generated via the 7Li(p,n) reaction by 43- and 68-MeV protons. Using the collimated source neutrons, the spectra are obtained on the neutron beam axis and at off-center positions. The calculations using the MORSE-CG and DOT3.5 codes with the DLC119 group cross-section data sets as well as the HETC-KFA2 code are carried out and compared with the measurements. The spectra calculated with the Monte Carlo code MORSE-CG and the DLC119 data agree with the measurements on the whole in the energy region above a few mega-electron-volts. It, however, is found that a few orders of Legendre expansion fail to reproduce the measurements at the position dominated by the neutrons scattered at a large angle. The calculations with the two-dimensional discrete ordinates code DOT3.5 and the DLC119 data also agree with the measurements in the overall energy region, though the restricted numbers of angular quadrature and a few orders of Legendre expansion led to the disagreement with the measurements at the off-center positions or in the neutron peak energy region. The comparison among the calculations with the Monte Carlo code HETC-KFA2 and the measurements show that the contribution of elastic scattering is very important in the intermediate energy region, and the treatment of the angular distribution of the elastic scattering reaction in the HETC-KFA2 code should be modified.