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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.
F. S. Gunnerson, D. T. Sparks, D. K. Kerwin
Nuclear Technology | Volume 52 | Number 1 | January 1981 | Pages 86-99
Technical Paper | Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT81-A32692
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An in-pile power-cooling-mismatch (PCM) test designed to investigate the behavior of a nine-rod PWR-type fuel bundle under intermittent and sustained periods of high temperature film boiling operation was recently conducted. Emphasis was placed on departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) and return to nucleate boiling (RNB), rod-to-rod interactions, and fuel rod failure. Results indicate that power-coolant variations induced DNB and RNB within the nine-rod test bundle in an irregular, nonsymmetric fashion. Direct rod-to-rod DNB, RNB, and fuel rod failure propagation were not observed. However, a single rod-to-rod interaction was suspected, that being RNB of one rod abetting the onset of DNB on an adjacent rod. This interaction was possibly due to hydraulic coupling. The power and inlet coolant conditions at the onset of DNB on the center fuel rod were indistinguishable from previously obtained PCM data for separately shrouded test rods; thus, the single-rod data base may be applicable for assessing the onset of DNB conditions of an interior fuel rod within a small cluster.