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.
Hangbok Choi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 204 | Number 3 | December 2018 | Pages 283-298
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1484646
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The performance of uranium-plutonium mixed carbide fuel was analyzed based on experimental data produced from the Japan Research Reactor No. 2, the Japan Materials Testing Reactor, and the Fast Flux Test Facility irradiation tests during 1983 to 1992. The analysis includes a review of earlier fuel irradiation test results, material property data, and physics models, and a simulation by a finite element method fuel performance code FEMAXI-6GA to predict the historic results. The simulation results were compared to the measured fission gas release, fuel swelling, and dimensional change of the cladding. The simulation results are reasonably consistent with the measurement. However, a few differences between the simulations and measurements were encountered, which are attributed to the lack of detailed experimental conditions, characteristics of fuel materials, material property data, and physics models. Based on sensitivity analyses of the results to experimental conditions and material property data, it is recommended to develop an experimental plan for the systematic measurements of thermal conductivity, including the effect of porosity, impurities, and stoichiometry, fission gas diffusion, and irradiation-induced swelling and densification, supplemented by advanced modeling and simulation techniques to support advanced fuel development in a cost-effective way.
