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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!
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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.
Balhassn S. M. Ali, Terry Y. P. Yuen, Mohamed Saber
Nuclear Technology | Volume 196 | Number 1 | October 2016 | Pages 130-140
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-117
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The high-temperature components in thermal power plants are subject to creep deformation as a result of operating at elevated temperature and high steam pressure. Creep is nonlinear deformation leading to rupture and component failure; therefore, it has to be monitored closely, especially when the high-temperature components approach the last stage of their designed lifetime. This paper presents the design and application of two small specimen types that can be used to assess the severity of creep damage in these components as they age. These specimens can be used to assess the creep strength and remaining lifetime of in-service components. Small material samples can be removed safely from operating component surfaces and then be used to manufacture these small specimens. These specimens can be manufactured and tested easily using pin connection. This paper places emphasis on specimen design and loading for creep testing. Two high-temperature materials (P91 and P92 steels) are used to validate the accuracy of the new testing technique. The creep results obtained from these small creep test specimens are compared with results obtained from corresponding uniaxial creep tests. Very good correlation is found between the two sets of results.