ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
Nuclear Technology
August 2025
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Hideo Ezure
Nuclear Technology | Volume 91 | Number 3 | September 1990 | Pages 311-344
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34455
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A method for calculating the depletion and production of uranium, plutonium, transplutonium nuclides, and fission products (DPUFP) in a boiling water reactor was evaluated using measured values for JPDR-1 nuclear fuel. The results show that (a) a three-dimensional nuclear thermohydrodynamic calculation is required for an accurate estimate, (b) the void fraction of a fuel assembly has a large effect on the production of transplutonium nuclides, (c) the measured values can be applied universally by correcting the irradiation and cooling histories and the effect of the neutron spectrum, (d) more reliable DPUFPs are obtained by closely correlating the calculated value of 134Cs/137Cs with the measured values, and (e) the effective neutron cross sections of uranium and plutonium can be obtained using the measured values.
