Scintillating crystals in future high energy physics experiments face a new challenge to maintain its performance in a hostile radiation environment. This paper discusses the effects of radiation damage in scintillating crystals. The importance of maintaining crystal's light response uniformity and the feasibility to build a precision crystal calorimeter under radiation are elaborated. The mechanism of radiation damage in scintillating crystals is also discussed. While the damage in alkali halides is found to be caused by the oxygen/hydroxyl contamination, it is the structure defects, such as oxygen vacancies, cause damage in oxides. Material analysis used to reach these conclusions are presented in details.
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