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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.
Jun Wang, Michael L. Corradini, Hangjin Jo (Univ of Wisconsin, Madison)
Proceedings | Advances in Thermal Hydraulics 2018 | Orlando, FL, November 11-15, 2018 | Pages 1015-1021
Following the Fukushima accident, research of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) and cladding materials began in order to improve the nuclear power plant safety following a Beyond Design Basis Accident (BDBA). National laboratories, industry, and universities are involved in this activity. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin are simulating BDBA’s to examine the effect of ATF cladding material using MELCOR. Use of alternate cladding materials (FeCrAl) and potential operator recovery actions have been previously studied. In this work, we examine the effect of FeCrAl coating on Zircaloy using a special version of MELCOR-1.8.6 (YU) developed by Idaho National Laboratory. This MELCOR version allows one to examine the effect of cladding coatings (Cr, FeCrAl) assuming appropriate thermo-physical data are available. FeCrAl is used as a first application of this modeling approach for clad coatings. Using a Short- Term Station Blackout (STSBO accident sequence shows that overall accident progression is quite similar to events without a coating, except for the start rapid core heatup, degradation and significant hydrogen generation. These events are delayed for more than an hour compared to nominal conditions.