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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.
A. Kenigsberg, D. Hasan, E. Elias
Nuclear Technology | Volume 50 | Number 3 | October 1980 | Pages 219-224
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT80-A32525
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A hypothetical accident is analyzed, in which an external (outof-plant) natural or man-made event causes a loss-of-coolant accident after penetrating the containment wall The computer codes CONTEMPT and RELAP4 have been used to study the containment thermal-hydraulic behavior during the accident. The radioactive materials outflow rate is calculated for a wide range of anticipated breach sizes, assuming perfect mixing in the air-steam-water mixture in the containment building. Typically, there is only a low pressure buildup in the initially breached containment. Therefore, the calculated fission product release rate is lower than the predicted rate in case the containment fractures in a later phase of the accident.
