Issues in Nuclear Science and Engineering

Course Number: 
NE 92
Course Units: 
2
Course Instructor: 
Van Bibber

Catalog Description

  • Introduction to technical, social, institutional, and ethical issues in nuclear engineering; nuclear reactions and radiation, radiation protection and control, nuclear energy production and utilization, nuclear fuel cycle, reactor safety, controlled fusion,
    nuclear waste, medical, and other applications of radiation, nuclear nonproliferation and arms control and engineering ethics.

Course Prerequisite

  • None

Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills

  • The course provides a general interest introduction to issues in nuclear science and engineering and does not require prerequisite knowledge or skills:

Textbook(s) and/or other required material

  • Nuclear Energy 6th Edn., R.L. Murray, Pergamon Press (2001).

Course Objectives

  • Introduce the fundamental concepts of radiation, nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics that control nuclear reactions, including fission and fusion, that underpin nuclear science and engineering
  • Provide understanding of how electricity is generated using nuclear reactors, through discussions of nuclear reactor types, power engineering, reactor safety and nuclear materials performance; and differentiate between nuclear power reactors and explosive energy release through nuclear reactions
  • Describe the technical and policy aspects associated with nuclear non-proliferation and the nuclear fuel cycle, including the management of spent nuclear fuel
  • Discuss nuclear science applications in biology and medicine
  • Introduce concepts of fusion power
  • Illustrate the concepts of profession responsibility and ethics

Course Outcomes

  • Understand the basic elements of nuclear structure, nuclear reactions and the interaction of radiation with matter
  • Understand the different types of nuclear reactors (e.g., thermal vs fast neutrons, coolant types, boiling vs pressurized) that are currently operating and those planned for future applications, and the safety systems within a nuclear power plant
  • Be able to differentiate a nuclear power reactor from an explosive energy release
  • Understand the proliferation and waste management issues within the nuclear fuel cycle
  • Understand how nuclear radiation can be utilized in biological research and medicine
  • Understand the professional responsibilities and ethics requirements of engineers & scientists
  • Participate in a design project that considers the applications of nuclear technology to a problem of societal importance
  • Gain experience in oral, graphic, and written communication
  • Understand the roles played by professional societies such as the American Nuclear Society

Topics covered

  • Introduction to nuclear forces, energy, and matter; atoms; light;
    nuclear structure; isotopes; radioactive decay; nuclear processes
    and interaction of radiation with matter.
  • Engineering and ethics; professional responsibility; ethical
    and social implications of technology.
  • Energy production and utilization: comparisons of energy sources,
    global energy flows; environmental impacts, pollution and global
    warming; economic evaluation and externalities; proliferation.
  • Biological effects of radiation; sources of radiation, biological
    pathways and dispersion in the environment; dosimetry units and
    measurement; radiation protection and control; ALARA; shielding
    and safety.
  • Reactor theory: nuclear fission and chain reacting systems;
    criticality.
  • Nuclear power engineering; energy transport and conversion in
    reactor systems, advanced reactor systems.
  • Controlled fusion: nuclear fusion reactions; fusion reactor
    concepts, magnetic and inertial confinement; plasma physics; tritium
    handling; timetable for commercial systems.
  • Medical applications of radiation: Monte Carlo particle transport
    simulation for radiation therapy, ethics and nuclear medical research.
  • Other applications of radiation: industrial radiography, neutron
    activation analysis, instrument sterilization, dating.

Class/laboratory schedule

  • This is primarily a lecture course.  Two hours per week.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component

  • This course contributes to the students' knowledge of engineering
    topics.
  • This course provides introductions to the science and technology
    that ground nuclear engineering, and to the broad array of activities
    encompassed by the discipline. Lectures are presented by leading
    researchers including department faculty, as well as by representatives
    from industry and the national laboratories. The course both provides
    an introduction to nuclear engineering important to NE students,
    and provides insights to students outside NE about the breadth
    of technological activity that involves nuclear processes.

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives

  • This course serves students both in and outside the department.
    The information below describes how the course contributes to
    the undergraduate program objectives.
  • This course contributes to the NE program objectives by providing
    both an introduction to the technical dimensions of nuclear engineering,
    and to the broader professional, social, and ethical considerations
    encompassed by engineering activity. The course provides specific
    discussion of professional ethics, environmental issues, risk
    assessment and safety, and social and institutional dimensions
    including nonproliferation.

Assessment of student progress toward course objectives

  • Weekly (nearly) problem sets: 30%
  • Midterm Exams 30% (each)
  • Final Exam: 40%