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Nuclear engineering is the branch of
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
concerned with the application of breaking down
atomic nuclei The atomic nucleus is the small, dense region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom, discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford based on the 1909 Geiger–Marsden gold foil experiment. After the discovery of the neutron ...
( fission) or of combining atomic nuclei (
fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of
nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
. In the sub-field of nuclear fission, it particularly includes the design, interaction, and maintenance of systems and components like reactors,
power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...
s, or
weaponry A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
. The field also includes the study of
medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
and other applications of
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...
, particularly
Ionizing radiation Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel ...
,
nuclear safety Nuclear safety is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the ...
, heat/thermodynamics transport,
nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
, or other related technology (e.g., 
radioactive waste disposal Radioactive waste disposal may refer to: *High-level radioactive waste management * Low-level waste disposal *Ocean disposal of radioactive waste **Ocean floor disposal *Deep borehole disposal *Deep geological repository See also * Radioactive wast ...
) and the problems of
nuclear proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
. This field also includes
chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
and
electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
.


Professional areas

The United States currently generates about 20% of its electricity from nuclear power plants. Nuclear engineers in this field generally work, directly or indirectly, in the nuclear power industry or for national laboratories. Current research in the industry is directed at producing economical and proliferation-resistant reactor designs with
passive safety Automotive safety is the study and practice of design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design ...
features. Some government (national) labs provide research in the same areas as private industry and in other areas such as
nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
s and nuclear fuel cycles, advanced reactor designs, and
nuclear weapon design Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three existing basic design types: * pure fission weapons, the simplest and least technically ...
and maintenance. A principal pipeline/source of trained personnel (both military and civilian) for US reactor facilities is the US Navy Nuclear Power Program, including its
Nuclear Power School Nuclear Power School (NPS) is a technical school operated by the United States Navy, U.S. Navy in Goose Creek, South Carolina as a central part of a program that trains enlisted sailors, officers, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, KAPL civilians an ...
in South Carolina. Employment in nuclear engineering is predicted to grow about nine percent in the year 2022 as needed to replace retiring nuclear engineers, provide maintenance and updating of safety systems in power plants, and to advance the applications of nuclear medicine. File:Nuclear Power Plant Cattenom.jpg, Nuclear powerplant File:B-61 bomb (DOE).jpg, B-61 thermonuclear weapon


Nuclear medicine and medical physics

Medical physics Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been incl ...
is an important field of nuclear medicine; its sub-fields include
nuclear medicine Nuclear medicine or nucleology is a medical specialty involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Nuclear imaging, in a sense, is "radiology done inside out" because it records radiation emitting ...
,
radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...
,
health physics Health physics, also referred to as the science of radiation protection, is the profession devoted to protecting people and their environment from potential radiation hazards, while making it possible to enjoy the beneficial uses of radiation. H ...
, and
diagnostic imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to rev ...
. Highly specialized and intricately operating equipment, including
x-ray machine An X-ray machine is any machine that involves X-rays. It may consist of an X-ray generator and an X-ray detector. Examples include: *Machines for medical projectional radiography *Machines for computed tomography *Backscatter X-ray machines, used ...
s,
MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...
and
PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
scanners and many other devices provide most of modern medicine's diagnostic capability—along with disclosing subtle treatment options. File:X-Ray Skull.jpg, X-Ray image of a male skull File:MRI head side.jpg, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of a human head File:PET-image.jpg, PET scan taken with an ECAT Exact HR+PET scanner


Nuclear materials

Nuclear materials research focuses on two main subject areas,
nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
s and irradiation-induced modification of nuclear materials. Improvement of nuclear fuels is crucial for obtaining increased efficiency from nuclear reactors. Irradiation effects studies have many purposes, including studying structural changes to reactor components and studying nano-modification of metals using ion-beams or particle accelerators. File:Uranium ore square.jpg,
Uranium ore Uranium ore deposits are economically recoverable concentrations of uranium within the Earth's crust. Uranium is one of the more common elements in the Earth's crust, being 40 times more common than silver and 500 times more common than gold. It ...
, the principal raw material of nuclear fuel File:Nuclear fuel pellets.jpeg,
Nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
pellets File:Fib.jpg, A
focused ion beam Focused ion beam, also known as FIB, is a technique used particularly in the semiconductor industry, materials science and increasingly in the biological field for site-specific analysis, deposition, and ablation of materials. A FIB setup is a s ...


Radiation protection and measurement

Radiation measurement is fundamental to the science and practice of
radiation protection Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Expos ...
, sometimes known as radiological protection, which is the protection of people and the environment from the harmful effects of uncontrolled radiation. Nuclear engineers and radiological scientists are interested in developing more advanced ionizing radiation measurement and detection systems, and using these advances to improve imaging technologies; these areas include detector design, fabrication and analysis, measurements of fundamental atomic and nuclear parameters, and radiation imaging systems, among others. File:Geiger counter.jpg, A modern
Geiger counter A Geiger counter (also known as a Geiger–Müller counter) is an electronic instrument used for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation. It is widely used in applications such as radiation dosimetry, radiological protection, experimental ph ...
File:Crocus-p1020552.jpg, A
neutron detector Neutron detection is the effective detection of neutrons entering a well-positioned detector. There are two key aspects to effective neutron detection: hardware and software. Detection hardware refers to the kind of neutron detector used (the most ...
File:Crocus-p1020567.jpg,
Scintillation detector Scintillation can refer to: *Scintillation (astronomy), atmospheric effects which influence astronomical observations *Interplanetary scintillation, fluctuations of radio waves caused by the solar wind *Scintillation (physics), a flash of light pro ...
next to
uraninite Uraninite, formerly pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U3O8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes t ...
File:US Navy 070208-N-9132D-002 Electronics Technician 2nd Class Shea Thompson tests an Alpha Particle Dection Probe.jpg, Hand-held large area alpha scintillation probe under calibration File:RTG radiation measurement.jpg, Hand-held integral
ion chamber The ionization chamber is the simplest type of gas-filled radiation detector, and is widely used for the detection and measurement of certain types of ionizing radiation, including X-rays, gamma rays, and beta particles. Conventionally, the term ...
survey meter in use


Nuclear engineering organizations

*
American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities ...
*
International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...
*
Nuclear Institute The Nuclear Institute is the professional body representing nuclear professionals in the UK. It is a charity independent of the industry that promotes knowledge of nuclear energy amongst its members and the public and offers a route to professi ...
(UK)


See also

*
Atomic engineering Atomic engineering may be considered a superset of nuclear engineering, which is the branch of engineering that seeks "to harness the energy released from nuclear reactions" via "the application of nuclear energy in a variety of settings, includin ...
*
Atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...
*''
Black Swan theory The black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based o ...
'' *''
Brittle Power ''Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security'' is a 1982 book by Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, prepared originally as a Pentagon study and re-released in 2001 following the September 11 attacks. The book argues that the U.S. do ...
'' *
Chernobyl nuclear disaster The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR in the Sov ...
* Earthquake engineering *
Fukushima nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...
*
International Nuclear Event Scale The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to enable prompt communication of safety significant information in case of nuclear accidents. The s ...
*
List of books about nuclear issues This is a list of books about nuclear issues. They are non-fiction books which relate to uranium mining, nuclear weapons and/or nuclear power. *''The Algebra of Infinite Justice'' (2001) *'' American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J ...
*
Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents These are lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents. Main lists * List of attacks on nuclear plants * List of Chernobyl-related articles * List of civilian nuclear accidents * List of civilian radiation accidents * List of cri ...
*
List of nuclear reactors A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
*''
Megaprojects and Risk ''Megaprojects and Risk: An Anatomy of Ambition'' is a 2003 book by Bent Flyvbjerg, Nils Bruzelius, and Werner Rothengatter, published by Cambridge University Press. According to chief economist and director of transportation policy at Infrastruc ...
'' *
Normal Accidents ''Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies'' is a 1984 book by Yale sociologist Charles Perrow, which provides a detailed analysis of complex systems from a sociological perspective. It was the first to "propose a framework for charac ...
*
Northeast Blackout of 2003 The Northeast blackout of 2003 was a widespread power outage throughout parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, and most parts of the Canadian province of Ontario on Thursday, August 14, 2003, beginning just after 4:10 p.m ...
*
Nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoing ...
*
Nuclear criticality safety Nuclear criticality safety is a field of nuclear engineering dedicated to the prevention of nuclear and radiation accidents resulting from an inadvertent, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear criticality safety is concerned with mit ...
*
Nuclear material Nuclear material refers to the metals uranium, plutonium, and thorium, in any form, according to the IAEA. This is differentiated further into "source material", consisting of natural and depleted uranium, and "special fissionable material", con ...
* Nuclear Measurements Corporation *
Nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
*
Nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
*
Nuclear reactor technology A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
*
Nuclear renaissance Since about 2001 the term nuclear renaissance has been used to refer to a possible nuclear power industry revival, driven by rising fossil fuel prices and new concerns about meeting greenhouse gas emission limits. In the 2009 ''World Energy ...
*
Project Gnome Project Gnome was the first nuclear test of Project Plowshare and was the first continental nuclear weapon test since Trinity to be conducted outside of the Nevada Test Site, and the second test in the state of New Mexico after Trinity. It was t ...
*
Safety engineering Safety engineering is an engineering discipline which assures that engineered systems provide acceptable levels of safety. It is strongly related to industrial engineering/systems engineering, and the subset system safety engineering. Safety en ...
*
Thermal hydraulics Thermal hydraulics (also called thermohydraulics) is the study of hydraulic flow in thermal fluids. The area can be mainly divided into three parts: thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer, but they are often closely linked to each oth ...
*'' Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective'' *
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository (after Germany's Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben and the Schacht Asse II salt mine) licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,00 ...


References


Further reading

* Ash, Milton, "Nuclear reactor kinetics", McGraw-Hill, (1965) * Gowing, Margaret. ''Britain and Atomic Energy, 1939–1945'' (1964). * Gowing, Margaret, and Lorna Arnold. ''Independence and Deterrence: Britain and Atomic Energy, Vol. I: Policy Making, 1945–52''; ''Vol. II: Policy Execution, 1945–52'' (London, 1974) * Johnston, Sean F. "Creating a Canadian Profession: The Nuclear Engineer, 1940–68," ''Canadian Journal of History,'' Winter 2009, Vol. 44 Issue 3, pp 435–466 * Johnston, Sean F. "Implanting a discipline: the academic trajectory of nuclear engineering in the USA and UK," ''Minerva,'' 47 (2009), pp. 51–73


External links


Electric Generation from Commercial Nuclear Power

Hacettepe University Department of Nuclear Engineering

Nuclear Engineering International magazine

Nuclear Safety Info Resources

Nuclear Science and Engineering technical journal

Science and Technology of Nuclear Installation Open-Access Journal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuclear Engineering Engineering disciplines Nuclear technology