|
|
 |
   |
| |
Department of Nuclear Engineering
M. L. Adams*, A. A. Amendola, D. Y. Anistratov,
F. R. Best, D. R. Boyle, L. A. Braby, W. E. Burchill (Head),
R. G. Cochran, J. J. Congleton, J. R. Ford, Jr., B. L. Freeman,
I. S. Hamilton, R. R. Hart, Y. A. Hassan, W. D. James, Jr., C.
J. Kerk, W. H. Marlow, M. E.McLain, J. S. Moore, P. Nelson, Jr.,
T. A. Parish, K. L. Peddicord, W. W. Pitt, Jr., J. W.Poston,Sr.,
W. D. Reece, J. C. Rock, J.P.Wagner, A. E. Waltar
* Graduate Advisor
The nuclear engineer applies radiation
and energy from nuclear sources to fields such as electricity
generation, space craft propulsion, sterilization, food processing,
industrial measurements and medical diagnostic and therapeutic
treatments. Nuclear engineering is based on the principles
of nuclear physics that govern radioactivity, fission and fusion;
the production of heat and radiation in those processes; and
the interaction of radiation with matter. The function of the
nuclear engineer is to apply these principles to a wide range
of challenging technological problems.
The Department of Nuclear Engineering
offers the Master of Engineering, Master of Science and Doctor
of Philosophy degrees. The department also offers courses and
faculty supervision for students pursuing the Doctor of Engineering
degree. Admission to nuclear engineering requires a bachelor's
degree in engineering, chemistry, mathematics or physics. Some
nuclear physics background is highly desirable. Mathematics
through differential equations is required.
Degree programs that include a minor
field of study are encouraged. This minor field would normally
include graduate study in the area of the student's baccalaureate
degree. If the baccalaureate degree is nuclear engineering,
the student with the advice of his or her committee will select
a suitable minor area of study. The department does not have
a foreign language requirement for the PhD degree; however,
successful completion of a departmental qualifying exam is
required.
Research opportunities are varied,
with emphasis on nuclear fuels, solid/ion interactions, particle
transport, reactor safety, design of advanced nuclear reactors,
thermal hydraulics, computational fluid mechanics, plasma engineering,
reactor kinetics and control, plutonium disposition, space
nuclear power systems, radiation interactions with living tissue,
dosimetry, medical isotopes, and neural networks and expert
systems.
The department offers a wide variety
of facilities for instructional and research purposes. These
include a well-equipped radiation measurements laboratory,
a sub-critical reactor laboratory, access to a supercomputer
facility and a University-wide UNIX network, a departmental
computer facility including interconnected UNIX and Windows
workstations with an extensive software library, a radiochemistry
laboratory, thermal hydraulics laboratories, an AGN-201M low
power nuclear reactor, five low-energy ion accelerators, a
large TRIGA research reactor located at the Texas A&M University
Nuclear Science Center, and a new plasma science/pulsed power
laboratory. An 88-inch cyclotron is also available for research
in nuclear physics and engineering at the Cyclotron Institute.
Professional Educational Program
in Health Physics
Students interested in doctoral
level studies in health physics can pursue these through the
PhD program in nuclear engineering. In addition, a professional
education program in health physics, leading to the Master
of Science degree in health physics, is available in the department.
This area of specialized study in
the Department of Nuclear Engineering is based strongly on
the fundamental aspects of radiation effects on matter, internal
and external dosimetry and environmental aspects of nuclear
power. The curriculum is such that students are educated at
a professional level in the field of radiation safety or health
physics.
A student is required to spend the
initial academic year taking formal course work in the Department
of Nuclear Engineering and in other cooperating departments
of the University. The summer is spent in special courses providing
practical on-the-job training in health physics at the Cyclotron
Institute, the Nuclear Science Center Reactor, and/or at the
Radiological Safety Office. At least one additional semester
is normally required to finish course work and complete a research
project for the Master of Science degree in health physics.
Professional Education Program
in Industrial Hygiene and Safety
Engineering
Students interested in industrial
hygiene or safety engineering can pursue the Master of Science
degree through the department. These areas of specialized study
in the Department of Nuclear Engineering are based strongly
on the fundamental aspects of industrial hygiene, measurement
techniques, evaluation and control of the work environment,
ergonomics, system safety engineering, product safety and fire
protection engineering. The curricula are such that students
are trained at a professional level in the fields of industrial
hygiene and safety engineering.
A student is required to spend the
initial academic year taking formal course work in the Department
of Nuclear Engineering and in other cooperating departments
of the University. The summer is normally spent in an internship
in industry which provides practical on-the-job training. At
least one additional semester is required to finish course
work and complete a research project for the Master of Science
degree.
(NUEN)
601. Nuclear Reactor Theory.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Neutron energy spectra in infinite
homogeneous media; diffusion approximation; one-speed and
multigroup diffusion theory and criticality calculations
for bare homogeneous reactors; reflected homogeneous reactors;
changes in reactivity. Prerequisites: NUEN 404 or equivalent;
MATH 601 or registration therein.
602. Nuclear Reactor Analysis.
(4-0). Credit 4.
Neutron transport; resonance
absorption; modern reactor analysis methods and codes; perturbation
theory; reactor kinetics; reactivity coefficients. Prerequisites:
NUEN 601 or equivalent; NUEN 604
604. Radiation Interactions
and Shielding. (3-0). Credit 3.
Basic principles of radiation
interactions and transport, especially as related to the
design of radiation shields. Radiation sources, nuclear reactions,
radiation transport, photon interactions, dosimetry, buildup
factors and fast neutron shielding. Prerequisites: NUEN 202
or equivalent; MATH 308; BS in engineering or physical sciences.
606. Reactor Experimentation.
(2-3). Credit 3.
Extension of NUEN 405. Control
rod and power calibrations are performed; effects of scattering,
absorption and moderation on the reactor are determined;
reactor core is disassembled and a critical experiment performed.
Prerequisite: NUEN 405 or approval of graduate advisor.
607. Plasma and Thermonuclear
Engineering. (3-0). Credit. 3.
Fusion
reactions, orbit theory in magnetic and electric fields,
coulomb interactions, formulation of Boltzmann equation;
magnetohydrodynamics, plasma waves and application configurations.
Prerequisites: MATH 601 or registration therein; basic
circuits; NUEN 417 or approval of instructor; nuclear engineering,
electrical engineering or physics majors recommended.
609. Nuclear Reactor Safety.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Analysis and evaluation applied
to reactor design for accident prevention and mitigation;
protective systems and their reliability, containment design,
emergency cooling requirements, reactivity excursions and
the atmospheric dispersion of radioactive material; safety
problems associated with light-water power reactors and proposed
fast reactor systems. Prerequisites: NUEN 601 and 623 or
approval of instructor.
610. Design of Nuclear Reactors.
(4-0). Credit 4.
Application of fundamentals
of nuclear physics and reactor theory with engineering fundamentals
to design of nuclear reactors. Prerequisites: NUEN 602 or
registration therein; NUEN 410 or approval of instructor.
611. Radiation Detection
and Management. (2-3). Credit 3.
Interaction of radiation with
matter behavior of various nuclear radiation detectors studied
both theoretically and experimentally in the laboratory;
properties of radioisotopes useful to industry considered
and evaluated from an engineering point of view. Prerequisite:
graduate classification, enrollment in NUEN 613 or instructor
approval.
612. Radiological Safety
and Hazards Evaluation. (3-0). Credit 3.
State
and federal regulations concerning radioactive materials;
radiation safety as applied to accelerators, nuclear reactors
and radioactive byproducts; rigorous methods of analysis
applied to computation of biological radiation dose and
dose rates from various sources and geometries; radiation
effects on physical systems. Prerequisites: NUEN 613; MATH
308.
613. Principles of Radiological
Safety. (3-0). Credit 3.
Rigorous mathematical and physical
approach to various aspects of radiological safety; derivation
of equations involving radiation absorption, radiation dosimetry
and calculations of radiation dose due to internal emitters;
mathematical models developed for determination of maximum
permissible body burdens and concentrations in air and water.
Prerequisite: NUEN 409.
614. Probabilistic Risk
Assessment Techniques in Nuclear Systems. (3-0). Credit 3.
Current and proposed techniques
for determining the reliability of nuclear plant systems
and the risk associated with the operation of these advanced
technology systems. Prerequisites: NUEN 612 and 613.
615. Theory and Applications
of Microdosimetry. (3-0). Credit 3.
Theory, measurement, and calculation
of microdosimeric spectra; practical applications of microdosimetry
in the determination of absorbed dose distribution within
tissue, the statistical fluctuations of absorbed dose at
the cellular and subcellular level, and the impact of microdosimetry
on radiation protection guidelines. Prerequisite: NUEN 613.
618. Nuclear Control Systems.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Reactor kinetics and fundamentals
of servo-control developed and applied to nuclear reactors.
Safety aspects of reactor control and operational problems.
Prerequisite: NUEN 602 or registration therein.
619. Multivariable Control
System Design. (3-0). Credit 3.
Advanced issues relevant to
the design of multivariable control systems using hybrid
(time and frequency domain) design methodologies; design
using the LQG/LTR method and advanced practical applications
using various robust control system design techniques. Prerequisite:
MEEN 651 or ELEN 605. Cross-listed with MEEN 652.
623. Nuclear Engineering
Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. (3-0). Credit 3.
Thermodynamics and unified treatment
of mass, momentum and energy transport with applications
to nuclear engineering systems; velocity and temperature
distributions in laminar and turbulent flow; flow and thermal
stability. Prerequisites: MEEN 334, 346 or 461 and MATH 601
or registration therein or approval of instructor.
624. Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics
and Stress Analysis. (3-0). Credit 3.
Unified treatment of advanced
heat transport in solids and fluids including boiling phenomena;
thermal stress phenomena with applications to nuclear sources;
isothermal elasticity; thermoelasticity; viscoelasticity;
plasticity. Prerequisites: NUEN 623 or equivalent; MATH 601
or registration therein.
625. Neutron Transport Theory.
(4-0). Credit 4.
Analytical treatment of neutron
transport theory; solution methods of integrodifferential
and integral Boltzmann equations, adjoints; energy dependent
methods using singular eigenfunctions, variational methods,
orthogonal polynomials and thermalization; current analytical
techniques in transport theory. Prerequisites: NUEN 602;
MATH 602.
629. Numerical Methods in
Reactor Analysis. (4-0). Credit 4.
Solution of variable dimension
multigroup discrete representation problems including Sn,
Pn, An, variational and Monte Carlo techniques; techniques
in reactor kinetics, fuel cycle and optimization. Prerequisites:
NUEN430; NUEN602 or equivalent.
630. Computational Methods
for Particle Transport Problems. (4-0). Credit 4.
Key properties of linear Boltzmann
equation, including analytic solution of model problems,
discretization methods; analysis of how well discretization
methods reproduce important characteristics of exact solution;
assessment of which properties are most important in various
application.
633. Radiation Measurements
and Calibrations. (3-0). Credit 3.
Measurement of radiation dose
and protection quantities in realistic radiation fields will
be studied; specific characteristics of radiation sources
will be discussed in the context of accurate measurement
and radiation protection; examples from a wide variety of
radiation environments will illustrate radiation measurement
requirements for medical, industrial, and research sources.
Prerequisite: NUEN 613.
644. Numerical Heat Transfer
and Fluid Flow. (3-0). Credit 3.
Convection-diffusion, up-wind,
exponential, exact solution, power law schemes, false diffusion;
staggered grid concept; development of simple and simpler
algorithms; periodically developed flows. Prerequisites:
NUEN 430 or equivalent; MEEN 357 and 461. Cross-listed with
MEEN 644.
673. Radiation Biology.
(3-0). Credit 3.
The response of biological systems
to ionizing radiation at the molecular, cellular, and organismal
levels; effects of different dose levels with emphasis on
the underlying mechanisms relevant to long term health effects
at low doses. Prerequisite: NUEN 409 or graduate classification.
Cross-listed with BMEN 673.
675. Internal Dose Techniques.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Current and proposed techniques
for assessing the absorbed dose due to internally deposited
radionuclides; techniques recommended for international and
national bodies, as well as those used in nuclear medicine.
Prerequisites: NUEN 612 and 613.
676. Health Physics Instrumentation.
(1-6). Credit 3.
Advanced course in health physics
instrumentation intended for students pursuing graduate study
in health physics; provides an in-depth knowledge of the
components of radiation monitoring and measurement systems.
Prerequisite: NUEN 402.
677. Aerosol Science. (3-0).
Credit 3.
Multidisciplinary survey of
methods for describing aerosol particles and systems: gas
kinetics and transport theory, formation and growth thermodynamics,
electrical properties, coagulation, light scattering; selected
topics from current literature. Prerequisite: Graduate classification
in engineering or approval of instructor. Cross-listed with
MEEN 677.
678. Waste Management in
the Nuclear Industry. (3-0). Credit 3.
Management of radioactive, hazardous
and mixed waste generated by all segments of the nuclear
fuel cycle and users of radioisotopes; includes treatment,
storage and disposal technologies and the political and socioeconomic
issues; evaluation of current practices and regulations using
a holistic approach. Prerequisites: Graduate classification
and approval of instructor.
681. Seminar. (1-0). Credit
1.
Special topics in nuclear engineering
not covered by formal course work. Whenever possible, guest
lecturers will discuss topics which they have personally
investigated. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
684. Professional Internship.
Credit 1 to 6.
Training under the supervision
of practicing engineers in settings appropriate to the student's
professional objectives. Prerequisites: Approval of chair
of student's advisory committee and department head.
685. Directed Studies. Credit
1 to 12 each semester.
Offered to enable students to
undertake and complete limited investigations not within
their thesis research and not covered by any other courses
in curriculum. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.
689. Special Topics in...
Credit 1 to 4.
Selected topics in an identified
area of nuclear engineering. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
691. Research. Credit 1
or more each semester.
Research toward thesis or dissertation.
(SENG)
611. Occupational and Environmental
Epidemiology. (3-0). Credit 3.
The epidemiologic evaluation
of human health hazards in the workplace and the environment;
issues in the design and critical review of epidemiologic
studies in the determination of effects of chemicals, heavy
metals and radiation on human health resulting from occupational
and environmental exposures. Prerequisites: SENG 680 and
VAPH 607 or approval of instructor. Cross-listed with VAPH
611.
636. Biological Control
System Analysis. (3-0). Credit 3.
Current advances in practical
biomechanics and ergonomics in industry in combating musculoskeletal
injury and illness, demonstrations of the positive effects
of redesign of job requirements, hand tools, chairs, manual
material handling tasks, machine controls and workspace arrangements.
Prerequisite: INEN 430 or 630. Cross-listed with INEN 636.
644.
Worker Response to Physiological and Environmental Stress
in Manufacturing. (3-0). Credit 3.
Function of the human body in
a work environment in response to physical exertion and environmental
stress in manufacturing; anatomy, anthropometry, strength,
respiration, neurophysiology, electrophysiology, cardiovascular
muscle physiology, and worker capacity evaluation (back and
carpal tunnel syndrome). Prerequisite: INEN 430 or 630. Cross-listed
with INEN 644.
645. Occupational Biomechanics.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Fundamental topics upon which
models are constructed; variety of models appropriate in
occupational settings; bioinstrumentation theory and practice
for model evaluation; experience in applying the models and
associated tools in the occupational setting. Prerequisite:
SENG 644 or INEN 644 or equivalent.
655. Process Safety Engineering.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Applications of engineering
principles to process hazards analysis including source and
dispersion modeling, emergency relief systems, fire and explosion
prevention and mitigation, hazard identification, risk assessment,
process safety management, etc. Prerequisite: Approval of
instructor. Cross-listed with CHEN 655.
670. Industrial Safety Engineering.
(3-0). Credit 3.
General concepts and techniques
of safety engineering upon which more detailed and advanced
applications may be based; applications of safety engineering
principles to industrial and commercial systems; the concept
of designing optimally safe systems.
671. Product Safety Engineering.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Provides specialized emphasis
required to develop within a student the ability to function
in the product design as a specialist in product safety engineering;
safety engineering and human factors principles are focused
on specific problems in product safety and liability considerations;
application of system safety principles.
674. System Safety Engineering.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Current system safety engineering
analysis techniques; failure mode and effect and fault tree
analysis. Engineering economic analysis is reviewed to develop
skills for the safety engineer in presenting alternate solutions
to management.
677. Fire Protection Engineering.
(2-3). Credit 3.
Theory of combustion, characteristics
of flammables, fire resistance, fire spread, fire protection
principles, public and private fire service organization
and equipment; automatic extinguishing systems. Fire protection
analysis and design projects.
680. Industrial Hygiene.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Recognition of environmental
stresses present in man-machine-environment systems and the
effect of these stresses on human performance, safety and
health; chemical, physical, ergonomic and biological exposures,
manufacturing systems, materials and operations.
681. Seminar. (1-0). Credit
1.
Formal presentations in industrial
hygiene and safety engineering by students and professional
industrial representatives.
682. Instrumentation for
Industrial Hygiene. (3-3). Credit 4.
Evaluation of environmental
stress factors present in man-machine-environment systems.
Introduction to quantitative and qualitative instrumentation
used in industrial hygiene. Development of in-depth evaluation
techniques as a precursor to the design of engineering controls.
Prerequisite: SENG 680 or approval of instructor.
683. Evaluation and Control
of the Occupational Environment. (3-3). Credit 4.
Detection, evaluation and control
of chemical, physical and biological agents prevalent in
manufacturing, construction and mercantile operations. Evaluation
procedures and control technology emphasized. Guest speakers
and field trips to local industry. Prerequisites: SENG 680
and 682 or approval of instructor.
684. Professional Internship.
Credit 1 to 6.
Training under the supervision
of practicing engineers in settings appropriate to the student's
professional objectives. Prerequisites: Approval of chair
of student's advisory committee and department head.
685. Directed Studies. Credit
1 to 12 each semester.
Investigation of topics not
within the scope of thesis or dissertation research and not
covered by other formal courses.
686. Acoustics and Noise
Control. (2-3). Credit 3.
Physical, physiological and
psychological aspects of noise; evaluation and control of
the noise problem in the work environment and community.
Source, path and level of noise; acoustical properties of
materials; damage-risk criteria for hearing; and criteria
for noise and vibration in communities, buildings and vehicles.
687. Industrial Ventilation.
(2-3). Credit 3.
Development of design principles
and application of natural, dilution and local exhaust ventilation
to control occupational exposures to conditions conducive
to the development of occupational disease.
689. Special Topics in...
Credit 1 to 4.
Selected topics in an identified
area of safety engineering and industrial hygiene. May be
repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.
691. Research. Credit 1
or more each semester.
Research in industrial hygiene,
safety engineering or related topics for thesis or dissertation.
|
|
