Nuclear engineering

Nuclear engineering was born in 1938, with the discovery of nuclear fission.{{cite web |title=The Discovery of Fission |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Events/1890s-1939/discovery_fission.htm |website=The Manhattan Project: an interactive history |publisher=US Department of Energy |access-date=7 April 2023}} The first artificial nuclear reactor, CP-1, was designed by a team of physicists who were concerned that Nazi Germany might also be seeking to build a bomb based on nuclear fission. (The earliest known nuclear reaction on Earth occurred naturally, 1.7 billion years ago, in Oklo, Gabon, Africa.) The second artificial nuclear reactor, the X-10 Graphite Reactor, was also a part of the Manhattan Project, as were the plutonium-producing reactors of the Hanford Engineer Works.

The first nuclear reactor to generate electricity was Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I), which did so near Arco, Idaho, in 1951.{{cite web |title=The World's First Nuclear Power Plant |url=https://inl.gov/experimental-breeder-reactor-i/ |website=Idaho National Engineering Laboratory |publisher=US Department of Energy |access-date=7 April 2023}} EBR-I was a standalone facility, not connected to a grid, but a later Idaho research reactor in the BORAX series did briefly supply power to the town of Arco in 1955.

The first commercial nuclear power plant, built to be connected to an electrical grid, is the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, which began operation in 1954. The second is the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, which produced electricity in 1957.

For a brief chronology, from the discovery of uranium to the current era, see [https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/outline-history-of-nuclear-energy.aspx Outline History of Nuclear Energy] or History of Nuclear Power.

See List of Commercial Nuclear Reactors for a comprehensive listing of nuclear power reactors and [https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/WorldStatistics/OperationalReactorsByCountry.aspx IAEA Power Reactor Information System (PRIS)] for worldwide and country-level statistics on nuclear power generation.

Nuclear engineers work in such areas as the following:{{cite news |last1=Martin and Bornstein |title=Nuclear Engineering |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/nuclear-engineering |access-date=6 April 2023 |publisher=Britannica}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/nuclear-engineer|title=Nuclear engineer job profile {{!}} Prospects.ac.uk|website=www.prospects.ac.uk|access-date=2019-12-13}}{{cite web |title=What Nuclear Engineers Do |url=https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/nuclear-engineers.htm#tab-2 |website=Occupational Outlook Handbook |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |access-date=16 April 2023}}

• Nuclear reactor design, which has evolved from the Generation I, proof-of concept, reactors of the 1950s and 1960s,{{cite web |last1=Goldberg and Rosner |title=The History of Reactor Generations |url=https://www.amacad.org/publication/nuclear-reactors-generation-generation/section/5 |website=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=9 April 2023}} to Generation II, Generation III, and Generation IV concepts
• Thermal hydraulics and heat transfer. In a typical nuclear power plant, heat generates steam that drives a steam turbine and a generator that produces electricity
• Materials science as it relates to nuclear power applications
• Managing the nuclear fuel cycle, in which fissile material is obtained, formed into fuel, removed when depleted, and safely stored or reprocessed
• Nuclear propulsion, mainly for military naval vessels, but there have been concepts for aircraft and missiles. Nuclear power has been used in space since the 1960s
• Plasma physics, which is integral to the development of fusion power
• Weapons development and management
• Generation of radionuclides, which have applications in industry, medicine, and many other areas
• Nuclear waste management
• Health physics
• Nuclear medicine and Medical Physics
• Health and safety
• Instrumentation and control engineering
• Process engineering
• Project Management
• Quality engineering
• Reactor operations{{cite web |title=Operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants |url=https://www.iaea.org/topics/operation-and-maintenance |website=IAEA |date=13 April 2016 |access-date=9 April 2023}}
• Nuclear security (detection of clandestine nuclear materials){{cite web |title=Environmental Detection of Clandestine Nuclear Weapon Programs |url=https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/105171/Environmental%20Detection%20of%20Clandestine%20Nuclear%20Weapon%20Programs%20-%20Final%20Manuscript%20%282%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |publisher=MIT |access-date=21 April 2023}}
• Nuclear engineering even has a role in criminal investigation,{{cite web |title=Nuclear Techniques Help to Solve Crimes |url=https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/nuclear-techniques-help-solve-crimes |website=EIA |date=23 December 2003 |access-date=7 April 2023}} and agriculture.{{cite web |title=5 Incredible Ways Nuclear Powers Our Lives |url=https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/5-incredible-ways-nuclear-powers-our-lives |website=Energy.gov |publisher=US Department of Energy |access-date=6 April 2023}}

Many chemical, electrical and mechanical and other types of engineers also work in the nuclear industry, as do many scientists and support staff. In the U.S., nearly 100,000 people directly work in the nuclear industry. Including secondary sector jobs, the number of people supported by the U.S. nuclear industry is 475,000.{{cite web |title=Jobs |url=https://www.nei.org/advantages/jobs |website=NEI |access-date=9 April 2023}}

In the United States, nuclear engineers are employed as follows:{{cite journal |title=Nuclear engineering workforce in the United States |year=2022 |pmc=9880971 |last1=Townsend |first1=L. W. |last2=Brady |first2=L. |last3=Lindegard |first3=J. |last4=Hall |first4=H. L. |last5=McAndrew-Benavides |first5=E. |last6=Poston |first6=J. W. |journal=Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics |volume=23 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=e13808 |doi=10.1002/acm2.13808 |pmid=36305037 }}

• Electric power generation 25%
• Federal government 18%
• Scientific research and development 15%
• Engineering services 5%
• Manufacturing 10%
• Other areas 27%

Worldwide, job prospects for nuclear engineers are likely best in those countries that are active in or exploring nuclear technologies{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}:

Organizations that provide study and training in nuclear engineering include the following:

• American Nuclear Society
• Asian Network for Education in Nuclear Technology (ANENT) https://www.iaea.org/services/networks/anent
• Canadian Nuclear Association
• Chinese Nuclear Society
• International Atomic Energy Agency
• International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF)
• Korea Nuclear Energy Agency (KNEA)
• Latin American Network for Education in Nuclear Technology (LANENT) https://www.iaea.org/services/networks/lanent
• Minerals Council of Australia
• Nucleareurope
• Nuclear Institute
• Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
• Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa (NIASA)
• Nuclear Technology Education Consortion https://www.ntec.ac.uk/
• OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
• Regional Network for Education and Training in Nuclear Technology (STAR-NET) https://www.iaea.org/services/networks/star-net
• World Nuclear Association
• World Nuclear Transport Institute

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• Atomic physics
• Chernobyl nuclear disaster
• Fukushima nuclear disaster
• International Nuclear Event Scale
• List of books about nuclear issues
• Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents
• List of nuclear reactors
• List of nuclear power stations
• Nuclear energy policy
• Nuclear fuel
• Nuclear criticality safety
• Nuclear material
• Nuclear physics
• Nuclear power
• Nuclear reactor technology
• Nuclear renaissance
• Safety engineering
• Thermal hydraulics
• Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

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{{reflist}}

• Ash, Milton, "Nuclear reactor kinetics", McGraw-Hill, (1965)
• Cravens, Gwyneth. Power to Save the World (2007)
• 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

{{Wikibooks}}

• [http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_generation/gensum.html Electric Generation from Commercial Nuclear Power]
• [http://www.nuke.hacettepe.edu.tr Hacettepe University Department of Nuclear Engineering]
• [http://www.neimagazine.com/ Nuclear Engineering International magazine]
• [http://nuclearsafety.info/resources Nuclear Safety Info Resources]
• [http://www.ans.org/pubs/journals/nse/ Nuclear Science and Engineering technical journal]
• [http://www.hindawi.com/journals/stni/ Science and Technology of Nuclear Installation Open-Access Journal]

{{Engineering fields}}

{{Nuclear technology}}

{{Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents}}

{{Authority control}}

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Nuclear Engineers

Category:Engineering disciplines

Category:Nuclear technology