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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.
H. Deuber
Nuclear Technology | Volume 72 | Number 1 | January 1986 | Pages 39-43
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT86-A33750
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In order to enable a realistic assessment of the 131I radiation exposure of the population living in the vicinity of light water reactors (LWRs) in normal operation, measurements were taken of the fractions of physicochemical 131I species in the stack exhaust air of five LWRs in the Federal Republic of Germany over periods of up to 3 yr. It is concluded that for these LWRs generally conservative values of the calculated 131I radiation exposure result if fractions for the radioecologically critical elemental131I and for the far less important organic 131I of 50% each are used.
