NE-39: Issues in Nuclear Science and Technology
Spring Semester 2006, 2 units
Mon/Wed: 3:00-4:00
Room: 3106 Etcheverry Hall
Office Hours: TBA
GSI:
Ying Wu, 4126 Etch. Office Hours: TBA
Email: yingwu2@nuc.berkeley.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Required Text: A Class Reader will be available at Copy Central on Hearst. There will also be a class web-site with viewgraphs of some lectures.
| Grading: | Homework/Discussions | 35% | ||
| Midterm | 25% | 3/20/06 | 3:00-4:00 | |
| Final | 40% | 5/8/06 | 3:00-4:00 |
| Course Schedule | |||||
| Week | Dates | Subject | Lecturer | Reading TBA |
Homework |
| 1 | 1/18 | History of modern scientific thought. | Kastenberg | ||
| 2 | 1/23 | History of modern technology and ethics. |
Kastenberg | ||
| 2 | 1/25 | Ethics, technology and society | Kastenberg | ||
| 3 | 1/30 | Discussion: ethical issues in technology | Kastenberg/GSI | ||
| 3 | 2/1 |
Matter, forces, and energy. Atoms, light, nuclear structure, isotopes, radioactive decay. |
Kastenberg/GSI | ||
| 4 | 2/6 | Biological effects of radiation. | Vujic | ||
| 4 | 2/8 | Medical applications of radiation | Vujic | ||
| 5 | 2/13 | Discussion: ethical issues in bio-nuclear engineering. | GSI | ||
| 5 | 2/15 |
Nuclear processes, neutron cross-sections. |
GSI | ||
| 6 | 2/20 | President’s Day Holiday | |||
| 6 | 2/22 | Reactor theory : nuclear fission and chain reacting systems, criticality. | GSI | ||
| 7 | 2/27 |
Discussion: nuclear proliferation. |
GSI | ||
| 7 | 3/1 | Midterm Examination | GSI | ||
| 8 | 3/6 | Nuclear power engineering: energy transport and conversion in reactor systems. | Peterson | ||
| 8 | 3/8 | Advanced reactor concepts; Gen IV. | Peterson | ||
| 9 | 3/13 | Controlled fusion I | Morse | ||
| 9 | 3/15 | Controlled fusion II | Morse | ||
| 10 | 3/20 | Controlled fusion III | Morse | ||
| 10 | 3/22 | Laboratory Tour | GSI | ||
| 11 | 3/27-31 | Spring Break | |||
| 12 | 4/3 | Nuclear materials I | Wirth | ||
| 12 | 4/5 | Nuclear materials II | Wirth | ||
| 13 | 4/10 | Discussion: energy resources and ethics | GSI | ||
| 13 | 4/12 | The nuclear fuel cycle: front end | Ahn | ||
| 1 | 4/17 | Nuclear waste: high, medium, and low-level wastes, transuranic waste, waste sources. | Ahn | ||
| 14 | 4/19 |
Geological repositories, economic and political issues. |
Ahn | ||
| 15 | 4/24 | Discussion: ethical issues and nuclear waste | GSI | ||
| 15 | 4/26 | Nuclear Reactor Safety | Kastenberg | ||
| 16 | 5/1 | Risk assessment: methods of scientific analysis, societal values, risk distributions. | Kastenberg | ||
| 16 | 5/3 | Discussion: societal values and risk. | GSI | ||
| 17 | 5/8 | Final exam | GSI | ||
