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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.
Yosuke Iwamoto, Daiki Satoh, Masayuki Hagiwara, Hiroshi Iwase, Yoichi Kirihara, Hiroshi Yashima, Yoshihiro Nakane, Hiroshi Nakashima, Takashi Nakamura, Atsushi Tamii, Kichiji Hatanaka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 2 | November 2009 | Pages 340-344
Neutron Measurements | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 2) / Radiation Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9205
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron energy spectra at 90 deg produced from stopping-length graphite, aluminum, iron, and lead targets and at 180 deg produced from a thin lithium target bombarded with 140-MeV protons were measured in the irradiation room of the neutron time-of-flight (TOF) course at the Research Center of Nuclear Physics of Osaka University. The neutron energy spectra were obtained by using the TOF technique in the energy range from 10 MeV to the incident proton energy of 140 MeV. The experimental data for a thick target at 90 deg were compared with calculations performed with the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) using the evaluated nuclear data. It was shown that PHITS using the evaluated nuclear data is able to reproduce the secondary neutron spectra at 90 deg. The experimental data for a thin target at 180 deg were compared with calculations using the nuclear physics models in PHITS and the Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended code (MCNPX). We found that the two codes work well at 180 deg in the neutron energy region above 10 MeV.