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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 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!
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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.
W. R. Marcum, T. V. Holschuh, T. K. Howard
Nuclear Technology | Volume 190 | Number 3 | June 2015 | Pages 359-375
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT14-61
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An exact solution for a heterogeneous, discontinuous wide beam is developed herein having three unique boundary condition (BC) sets. These BC sets were chosen based on their relevance to plate-type–fueled reactors. This solution, with respective BC sets, contributes new insights into the field of engineering mechanics as applied within the nuclear engineering discipline. Herein, the exact solution is validated under a set of test cases. A comparison is then made against other relations that have been developed to provide similar engineering insights. Last, the solution is applied toward a presently relevant engineering problem regarding the design of a monolithic plate-type fuel. The outcome of this work provides a solution form for the computation of out-of-plane deflection of a heterogeneous, discontinuous wide beam that can be easily applied in engineering mechanics and is flexible in use.