Introduction to Nuclear Engineering

This lecture covers various topics in nuclear engineering, including reactor technology, nuclear physics, fuel cycle, reactor physics, reactor kinetics, thermal hydraulics, radiation protection, nuclear safety principles, design basis accidents, generation-IV reactors, and waste treatment. The instructor discusses the emergency core cooling system, large-break LOCA, hydroaccumulators, containment design, BWR heat removal systems, severe accidents, core flooding tank, and safety analysis assumptions. The lecture also delves into LB-LOCA sequences, containment isolation, core heatup phase, temperature escalation phase, core melt progression, and engineered safety features of a PWR. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident is analyzed, highlighting the severe consequences and lessons learned.

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This course is intended to understand the engineering design of nuclear power plants using the basic principles of reactor physics, fluid flow and heat transfer. This course includes the following: Re

Pressurized water reactor

A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) is pumped under high pressure to the reactor core where it is heated by the energy released by the fission of atoms. The heated, high pressure water then flows to a steam generator, where it transfers its thermal energy to lower pressure water of a secondary system where steam is generated.

Nuclear reactor safety system

The three primary objectives of nuclear reactor safety systems as defined by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission are to shut down the reactor, maintain it in a shutdown condition and prevent the release of radioactive material. A reactor protection system is designed to immediately terminate the nuclear reaction. By breaking the nuclear chain reaction, the source of heat is eliminated. Other systems can then be used to remove decay heat from the core. All nuclear plants have some form of reactor protection system.

Nuclear reactor

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 nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating.

Boiling water reactor

A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor (PWR), which is also a type of light water nuclear reactor. The main difference between a BWR and PWR is that in a BWR, the reactor core heats water, which turns to steam and then drives a steam turbine. In a PWR, the reactor core heats water, which does not boil.

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 and sustaining nuclear fission. The three most relevant fissile isotopes are uranium-233, uranium-235 and plutonium-239. When the unstable nuclei of these atoms are hit by a slow-moving neutron, they frequently split, creating two daughter nuclei and two or three more neutrons.

Covers reactor technology, safety functions, accident scenarios, and emergency systems in nuclear engineering.

Covers various topics in nuclear engineering, including Fukushima event analysis, Chernobyl accident, and reactor safety measures.

Explores nuclear engineering topics such as reactor technology, safety principles, and emergency core cooling systems.

Introduces nuclear engineering, covering reactor types, components, and thermodynamics, including pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors.

Explores reactivity variations in reactor technology, covering short-term, medium-term, and long-term effects, means of control, and consequences.