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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.
Bernard L. Cohen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 68 | Number 1 | January 1985 | Pages 73-76
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33568
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method is developed for estimating, on a generic basis, the probability per year for an atom of average rock at a given depth to be transferred into a river. For a 600-m depth, it is 0.9 × 10−9/yr. The transfer probability from shallow aquifers or rivers into human stomachs is dominated by our use of well water with additional contributions from direct use of river water, irrigation, and fish; the total probability is 4 × 10−4. The product of these, corrected for the greater leach-ability of waste glass than of average rock, gives a total transfer rate for an atom of buried waste into human stomachs of 10−12/yr. When combined with health risk information, it is concluded that we may eventually expect 0.017 deaths/GW(electric).yr from high-level waste, and 0.068 deaths/GW(electric) .yr from unreprocessed spent fuel.