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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.
Reino Ekholm
Nuclear Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | March 1971 | Pages 249-256
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT71-A30957
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An assessment of the relative merits of heliumsodiumand steam-cooled fast breeders was completed in Sweden in 1969. Breeders have the potential of reducing overall system power costs provided no more than 40 million tons of uranium can be mined below $15/lb U3O8. The breeders—particularly those cooled by Na or Heset reasonable upper limits to mining and enrichment capacity requirements. Fuel development is the outstanding problem for these breeders, and especially difficult for the steam-cooled type. Steam cooling shows the lowest capital costs, followed by helium cooling, and is relatively promising with low-cost uranium. Sodium cooling involves the most extensive research and development (R&D) program; the helium- and steam-cooled breeders are largely based on thermal-reactor technology and offer real potential as advanced next-generation plants. However, the uncertainties, even of the relative assessments, still overlap the estimated power cost differences of 0.4 mill/kWh.