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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 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.
Dawn E. Janney, Steven L. Hayes
Nuclear Technology | Volume 203 | Number 2 | August 2018 | Pages 109-128
Critical Review | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1435137
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
More than 14 000 U-10Zr fuel rods (alloys of U with 10 wt% Zr) were irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II and Fast Flux Test Facility, with some irradiated to burnups of almost 20 at. %. However, very little information about properties of unirradiated U-10Zr alloys is available. These data are needed to help with interpretation of data from irradiated materials, to develop and validate phase diagrams and models of U-Zr and more complex systems, to inform and validate fuel performance codes, to design fuels for future fast reactors, and to guide future experimental investigations to fill in crucial gaps in knowledge.
This paper provides a summary and critical review of the available experimental data on phases and phase diagrams, electrical properties, thermal expansion, thermal conductivity, heat capacity, mechanical properties, vapor pressures, and thermodynamic properties of unirradiated U-10Zr alloys. Many of the reported values were published before approximately 1970 and are available only in obscure reports. This critical review concludes by identifying areas where additional experimental measurements are particularly necessary and makes recommendations on prioritization of new measurements with a view to the emerging needs associated with the mechanistic modeling of nuclear fuels and their performance.