Nuclear engineering
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'''Nuclear engineering''' is the application of the breakdown of [[atomic nucleus|atomic nuclei]] and/or other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of [[nuclear physics]]. It includes, but is not limited to, the interaction and maintenance of [[nuclear fission]] systems and components— specifically, [[nuclear reactor]]s, [[nuclear power plant]]s, and/or [[nuclear weapon]]s. The field may also include the study of [[nuclear fusion]], [[nuclear medicine|medical]] and other applications of (generally ionizing) radiation, [[nuclear safety]], [[heat|heat/thermodynamics]] transport, nuclear [[nuclear fuel cycle|fuel]] and/or other related (e.g., waste disposal) technology, [[nuclear proliferation]], and the effect of [[radioactive waste]] or [[radioactivity]] in the [[environment (biophysical)|environment]].
== Typical training in the United States ==
The following is the typical coursework included in most [[United States|U.S.]] nuclear engineering degree programs.
As with any engineering discipline, college preparation should include mathematics training through the beginnings of [[calculus]], as well as introductory courses in [[physics]] and [[chemistry]].
=== Undergraduate coursework ===
Undergraduate coursework should begin with a foundation in [[mechanics]] and [[dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]] of particle motion, [[thermodynamics]], introductory [[computer programming]], college level physics and chemistry, and a rigorous training in mathematics through [[differential equations]].
Midway through undergraduate training a nuclear engineer must choose a specialization within their field for further study. Upper level coursework in a nuclear engineering program includes but is not limited to [[fluid mechanics]], reactor physics, [[quantum mechanics]], [[thermal hydraulics]], [[Linear circuit|linear circuits]], [[radiation]] effects, and [[neutron transport]].
Specialization in [[Nuclear fission|fission]] includes the study of [[nuclear reactor]]s, fission systems, and nuclear power plants. Primary instruction deals with [[Neutron transport|neutronics]] and [[Thermal hydraulics|thermal-hydraulics]] for [[Nuclear power|nuclear generated electricity]]. A firm foundation in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics in addition to [[hydrodynamics]] is a must.
Specialization in nuclear fusion includes [[electrodynamics]] and [[Plasma (physics)|plasmas]]. This area is very much research oriented and training often terminates with a graduate level degree.
Specialization in nuclear medicine includes courses dealing with [[dose]]s and absorption of radiation in bodily tissues. Those who gain competency in this area usually move into the medical field. Many nuclear engineers in this specialization go on to become board licensed [[Medical physicist|medical physicists]] or go to medical school and become a [[radiation oncologist]]. Remaining in academia in a research capacity is also a common choice for graduates.
===Naval Nuclear Power School===
The US Navy runs a program called [[Naval Nuclear Power School]] to train both [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]] and [[enlisted]] sailors for nuclear plant operation. While some officers have undergraduate backgrounds in nuclear engineering, any officers who take the requisite math and science classes are also accepted, whereas most of the enlisted students hold no college degrees at all. Despite this, they are prepared, through a rigorous training program (lasting between 65 weeks for [[Machinist's Mate]]s and eighteen months for [[Electronics Technician]]s and [[Electrician's Mate]]s), to operate the nuclear and steam plants aboard the navy's submarines and aircraft carriers. This training does not carry a Department of Energy certification, although many sailors choose to work at civilian power plants after their six-year obligations are completed.
<gallery>
Image:USS Virginia (SSN-774) bravo sea trials.jpg|[[USS Virginia (SSN-774)|USS ''Virginia'']], a [[Virginia class submarine|''Virginia''-class]] nuclear attack (SSN) submarine
Image:USSRONALDREAGANgoodshot.jpg|[[USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)]]), the ninth and penultimate Nimitz-class supercarrier
</gallery>
<!-- === Graduate coursework === -->
== Professional areas ==
=== Nuclear fission ===
[[Nuclear fission]] is the disintegration of a fissionable atom's nucleus into two or more different elements nuclei. An approximate number of ~2.4 neutrons are scattered around per fission. There are two types of nuclear fission.
1-Fast Fission
2-Thermal fission
Generally, thermal fission is used in commercial reactors, if we disregard the Fast Breeder Type of Nuclear Reactors.
The United States gets about 20% of its electricity from nuclear power. This is a massive industry and keeping the supply of nuclear engineers plentiful will ensure its stability. Nuclear engineers in this field generally work, directly or indirectly, in the nuclear power industry or for government labs. Current research in industry is directed at producing economical, proliferation resistant reactor designs with passive safety features. Although government labs research the same areas as industry, they also study a myriad of other issues such as: [[nuclear fuel]]s and nuclear fuel cycles, [[Generation IV reactor|advanced reactor designs]], and [[nuclear weapon design]] and maintenance. A principal pipeline for trained personnel for US reactor facilities is the Navy Nuclear Power Program.
<gallery>
Image:Nuclear Power Plant Cattenom.jpg|'''Nuclear Powerplant '''
Image:B-61 bomb (DOE).jpg|'''B-61 thermonuclear weapon'''
</gallery>
=== '''''Nuclear fusion and plasma physics''''' ===
Research areas in [[nuclear fusion]] and [[plasma (physics)|plasma physics]] include high-temperature, radiation-resistant materials, and plasma dynamics. Internationally, research is currently directed at building a prototype [[tokamak]] called [[ITER]]. The research at ITER will primarily focus on instabilities and diverter design refinement. Researchers in the USA are also building an inertial confinement experiment called the [[National Ignition Facility]] or NIF. NIF will be used to refine neutron transport calculations for the US [[stockpile stewardship]] initiative.
<gallery>
Image:NIF target chamber.jpg|'''[[National Ignition Facility|NIF]] (National Ignition Facility) target chamber'''
</gallery>
=== Nuclear medicine and medical physics ===
An important field is [[nuclear medicine]]. From [[x-ray machine]]s to [[Magnetic resonance imaging|MRI]] to [[Positron emission tomography|PET]], among many others, nuclear medicine provides most of modern medicine's diagnostic capability along with providing many treatment options. <gallery>
Image:X-Ray Skull.jpg|'''X-Ray Image of a male skull'''
Image:MRI head side.jpg|'''Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan of a head'''
Image:PET-image.jpg|'''PET taken with an ECAT Exact HR+ PET Scanner'''
</gallery>
=== Nuclear materials and nuclear Fuels ===
Nuclear materials research focuses on two main subject areas, [[nuclear fuel]]s and irradiation-induced modification of materials. Improvement of nuclear fuels is crucial for obtaining increased efficiency from nuclear reactors. Irradiation effects studies have many purposes, from studying structural changes to reactor components to studying [[Nanotechnology|nano-modification]] of metals and semiconductors using [[Focused ion beam|ion-beams]] or [[particle accelerators]].
<gallery>
Image:Uranium ore square.jpg|'''[[Uraninite|Uranium ore]], the principal raw material of nuclear fuel'''
Image:Nuclear fuel pellets.jpeg|'''[[Nuclear fuel]] pellets'''
Image:Fib.jpg|'''A [[Focused ion beam]]'''
</gallery>
=== Radiation measurements and imaging ===
Nuclear engineers and radiological scientists are interested in the development of more advanced ionizing radiation measurement and detection systems, and using these to improve imaging technologies. This includes detector design, fabrication and analysis, measurements of fundamental atomic and nuclear parameters, and radiation imaging systems, among other things.
<gallery>
Image:Geiger counter.jpg|'''A modern [[Geiger counter]]'''
Image:Crocus-p1020552.jpg|'''A [[Neutron detection|neutron detector]]'''
Image:Crocus-p1020567.jpg|'''[[Scintillation detector]] next to [[Uraninite]]
</gallery>
==Nuclear engineering organizations==
* [[American Nuclear Society]]
* [[International Atomic Energy Agency]]
* Institution of Nuclear Engineers (London)
== List of U.S. colleges offering nuclear engineering degrees ==
{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="1"
! rowspan=1|'''College'''||rowspan=1|'''Department''' (external links)|| rowspan=1|'''Degrees offered'''
|-
|[[Air Force Institute of Technology]]
|[http://en.afit.edu/enp/default.htm Engineering Physics]
|[[Master of Science|MS]],[[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]]
|-
|[[Kansas State University]]
|[http://courses.k-state.edu/catalog/undergraduate/en/mne.html Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering]
|[[Bachelor of Science|BS]],MS,PhD
|-
|[[Georgia Institute of Technology]]
|[http://www.nre.gatech.edu/ Nuclear and Radiological Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[Idaho State University]]
|[http://www.isu.edu/departments/inse/orga.html Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
|[http://web.mit.edu/nse/ Nuclear Science and Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[Missouri University of Science and Technology]]
|[http://www.nuc.umr.edu/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[North Carolina State University]]
|[http://www.ne.ncsu.edu/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
| [[Ohio State University]]
|[http://rclsgi.eng.ohio-state.edu/nuclear/ Nuclear Engineering]
|MS,PhD
|-
|[[Oregon State University]]
|[http://ne.oregonstate.edu/ Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[Pennsylvania State University]]
|[http://www.mne.psu.edu Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[Pennsylvania State University]]
|[http://www.engr.psu.edu/cde/nuce/program.html Distance Learning Program in Nuclear Engineering]
|[[Master of Engineering|M.Eng.]]
|-
|[[Purdue University]]
|[https://engineering.purdue.edu/NE/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]]
|[http://www.eng.rpi.edu/mane/ Mechanical, Aerospace & Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[South Carolina State University]]
|[http://www.scsu.edu/academics/collegeofsciencemathematicsengineeringtechnology/departmentofcmetnuclearengineering.aspx/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS
|-
|[[Texas A&M University]]
|[http://nuclear.tamu.edu/home/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of California, Berkeley]]
|[http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Cincinnati]]
|[http://www.eng.uc.edu/dept_min/ Mechanical, Industrial and Nuclear Engineering]
|MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Florida]]
|[http://www.nre.ufl.edu/ Nuclear and Radiological Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Idaho]]
|[http://www.uidaho.edu/engr/Programs/Nuclear/ Nuclear Engineering Program]
|MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]]
|[http://www.ne.uiuc.edu/ Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Maryland, College Park]]
|[http://www.ennu.umd.edu/ Materials and Nuclear Engineering]
|MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Massachusetts Lowell]]
|[http://www.uml.edu/college/engineering/chemical/default.html Chemical Engineering]
|BS
|-
|[[University of Michigan Ann Arbor]]
|[http://www-ners.engin.umich.edu/ Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Missouri]]
|[http://nsei.missouri.edu/ Nuclear Science and Engineering Institute]
|MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of New Mexico]]
|[http://www-chne.unm.edu/ Chemical and Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Tennessee at Knoxville]]
|[http://www.engr.utk.edu/nuclear/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of South Carolina]]
|[http://www.me.sc.edu/nuclear/index.html Nuclear Engineering]
|ME,MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Texas at Austin]]
|[http://www.me.utexas.edu/~nuclear/ Nuclear and Radiation Engineering]
|MS,PhD
|-
|[[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]
|[http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ep/ Engineering Physics]
|BS,MS,PhD
|-
|[[United States Naval Academy]]
|[http://www.usna.edu/MechEngDept/history.htm/ Nuclear Engineering]
|BS
|-
|[[United States Military Academy]]
|[http://www.dean.usma.edu/sebpublic/curriccat/fos_details.cfm?fos_maj_cd=NEN0&grad_yr=2007 Nuclear Engineering]
|BS
|-
|[[Virginia Commonwealth University]]
|[http://www.egr.vcu.edu/pdfs/Nuclear.pdf Nuclear Engineering]
|MS
|}
== List of universities in Canada offering nuclear engineering degrees ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
! rowspan=1|'''College'''||rowspan=1|'''Department''' (external links)|| rowspan=1|'''Degrees offered'''
|-
|[[University of Ontario Institute of Technology]], [[Oshawa]]
|[http://www.engineering.uoit.ca/undergraduate/nuclear/ Nuclear Engineering]
|B.Eng, M.Eng
|-
|[[McMaster University]], [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]]
|[http://engphys.mcmaster.ca/ Engineering Nuclear Physics]
|B.Eng.Phys., Dipl.Nuc.Tech, M.Eng, M.A.Sc, Ph.D.
|-
|[[Royal Military College of Canada]], [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]]
|[http://www.rmc.ca/academic/grad/index_e.html Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering]
|M.Sc, M.A.Sc, M.Eng, PhD
|}
== List of colleges in India offering nuclear engineering degrees ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="1"
! rowspan=1|'''College'''||rowspan=1|'''Department''' (external links)|| rowspan=1|'''Degrees offered'''
|-
|[[Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur]]
|[http://www.iitk.ac.in/net Nuclear Engg and Technology]
|M.Tech,PhD
|}
== List of colleges in Pakistan offering nuclear engineering degrees ==
{|class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="1"
! rowspan=1|'''College'''||rowspan=1|'''Department''' (external links)|| rowspan=1|'''Degrees offered'''
|-
|[[Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Islamabad]]
|[http://www.pieas.edu.pk/ Department of Nuclear Engineering]
|MS,PhD
|}
==See also ==
* [[Atomic physics]]
* [[Earthquake engineering]]
* [[Nuclear fuel]]
* [[Nuclear material]]
* [[Nuclear physics]]
* [[Nuclear power]]
* [[Nuclear reactor]]
* [[Thermal hydraulics]]
* [[Nuclear Criticality Safety]]
* [[Safety engineering]]
==External links ==
* [http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks_portal Wikibooks]
{{Wikibookspar|Wikiversity|Nuclear_Engineering}}
*[http://www.hindawi.com/journals/stni/ Science and Technology of Nuclear Installation Open-Access Journal]
* [http://www.neimagazine.com/ Nuclear Engineering International magazine]
* [http://www.ans.org/pubs/journals/nse/ Nuclear Science and Engineering technical journal]
* [http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_generation/gensum.html Electric Generation from Commercial Nuclear Power]
{{Nuclear Technology}}
{{Technology}}
[[Category:Engineering disciplines]]
[[Category:Nuclear technology]]
[[ca:Enginyeria nuclear]]
[[es:Ingeniería nuclear]]
[[fa:مهندسی هستهای]]
[[it:Ingegneria nucleare]]
[[he:הנדסה גרעינית]]
[[ja:原子力工学]]