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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.
Werner Maschek, Margaret W. Asprey
Nuclear Technology | Volume 63 | Number 2 | November 1983 | Pages 330-336
Technical Paper | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT83-A33291
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The behavior of a homogeneous reactor core of the 300-MW(electric) class has been evaluated during the pretransition and transition phases of a hypothetical loss-of-flow accident without scram. The SIMMER-II code has been used to track core material redistribution processes, which can lead to recriticalities and secondary nuclear power excursions. One of the key questions of core disruptive accident analysis is if core meltdown inevitably leads to a bottled-up core situation with its energetics potential or if various phenomena exist (as material discharge of hot fuel through the axial blankets, drop-in of blanket material into the core region, etc.) that prevent the accident progression into a bottled-up transition phase pool. The analyses for the specified reactor design show that, taking into account the aforementioned phenomena, the dominant accident path will lead to the postaccident heat removal phase directly from the pretransition phase. The accident path into the transition phase with a bottled-up core situation and its energetics potential might thereby be avoided.