From the invention of the cyclotron in the early 1930's to the discovery of plutonium during World War II, UC Berkeley is widely recognized as birthplace of some of the most important insights that helped create the discipline of Nuclear Engineering.

At UC Berkeley, our faculty and students continue to lead in extending the boundaries of this discipline, from creating new approaches for the production of energy from fission and fusion, to identifying new methods for managing radioactive wastes, to developing new applications of nuclear processes in medical imaging and therapy. Students at UC Berkeley work in a stimulating intellectual environment both on campus and at the nearby Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. Our students also enjoy the mild Mediterranean climate of the San Francisco Bay Area, with its diverse opportunities for cultural and outdoor activities.

Nuclear Engineering has re-emerged as an exciting and vigorous field for graduate study. Energy and energy policy are now nationally visible topics, and research in fission and fusion energy is growing with new efforts toward the development of Generation IV fission reactor systems and work in magnetic and inertial confinement fusion under the new DOE Fusion Roadmap. UC Berkeley leads in these fields, as well as in radioactive waste management and applications of nuclear science and technology. We advise digging into the UCBNE web site, since the most interesting information on the current activities in the department can be found in the home pages of the faculty and research groups.