Nuclear reactor safety

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Problems in nuclear engineering often involve applying knowledge from many disciplines simultaneously in achieving satisfactory solutions. The course will focus on understanding the complete nuclear reactor system including the balance of plant, support systems and resulting interdependencies affecting the overall safety of the plant and regulatory oversight. Both the Seabrook and Pilgrim nuclear plant simulators will be used as part of the educational experience to provide as realistic as possible understanding of nuclear power systems short of being at the reactor.

Knief, R. A. Nuclear Engineering: Theory and Technology of Commercial Nuclear Power. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Hemisphere, 1992. ISBN: 9781560320890.

El-Wakil, M. M. Nuclear Energy Conversion. Scranton, PA: Intext Educational Publishers, 1971. ISBN: 9780700223107.

Assigned every class, due next class after date of assignment. Late homework will receive up to 1/2 full credit.

Plagiarism—use of another's intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else's work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student's own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available at the Writing and Communication Center and the MIT Web site on Plagiarism.

Overview, goals of course

Review of reactor types

Reactor heat removal

MITR experiment

Exam 1 is a week after Ses #10

PRISM assignment due

Don't show me this again

This is one of over 2,200 courses on OCW. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free & open publication of material from thousands of MIT courses, covering the entire MIT curriculum.

No enrollment or registration. Freely browse and use OCW materials at your own pace. There's no signup, and no start or end dates.

Knowledge is your reward. Use OCW to guide your own life-long learning, or to teach others. We don't offer credit or certification for using OCW.

Made for sharing. Download files for later. Send to friends and colleagues. Modify, remix, and reuse (just remember to cite OCW as the source.)

Learn more at Get Started with MIT OpenCourseWare