ME 480ANuclear Energy Engineering

Catalog

The course will present to students the fundamental principles of fission and fusion energy. Half the course will be on fission reactors and the second half will be on fusion reactors. A)Introducing the design of pressurized and boiling water reactors, the principal elements for fission energy conversion, namely fuel supply, reaction region, energy extraction and output(power generation) will be introduced. Since the maximum power level of a reactor is determined by the rate at which heat can be removed, focus will be placed on the analysis of the thermal behavior of the reactor core, e.g., temperature distributions, fluid flow of reactor coolants, and thermal stress of reactor components. B)Introducing the design of magnetically confined (Tokamak) fusion reactor as well as laser fusion reactor, the principal elements as far as fusion energy conversion, namely, fuel supply, reaction region, energy extraction and output (power generation) will be introduced. Focus will be placed on the thermal behavior of the fusion reactor blanket, that is, the heat removal system, e.g., temperature distribution in reactor components, fluid flow of reactor coolants and heat removal, and thermal stress of reactor components. Prerequisite that can be taken concurrently: ME441 Heat Transfer