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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.
Harold H. Young, Jerome Kohl
Nuclear Technology | Volume 27 | Number 1 | September 1975 | Pages 148-153
Technical Paper | Education | doi.org/10.13182/NT75-A15951
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A total of 52 summer workshops attended by over 1700 high-school science teachers have been given by 27 universities in the period of 1971 to 1974. These workshops were funded by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to provide factual material through educational channels so that the public could obtain an informed perspective of the role of nuclear energy as an electrical power source. (The AEC was abolished in Jan. 1975 and its research and development programs were absorbed by the new U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration.) The workshops have included lectures, panel discussions, laboratories, and field trips, and have emphasized providing teachers with materials for use in their classrooms. Actual use of workshop material has been monitored through workshop reports, meetings, and visits. Participants have used their workshop experience for classroom presentations, talks to the public, and for assembly programs. The material developed and the experience of presenting it has proved valuable for the nuclear engineering faculty members giving the workshops. They have used their experience in other courses, for public lectures, and for other workshops. And they have gained personal experience in methods of dealing with the nuclear power controversy. A review of these workshops indicates that they offer at a reasonable cost a productive method of presenting factual information on the various solutions to the complex electrical generation problem.