Courses

The degree is a non-thesis professional master's degree consisting of 27 credits of course work plus 3 credits of research/paper writing. Twelve of those credits must be in nuclear engineering courses, with at least 18 credits completed at the 500 level. No thesis is required for the MEng in NE degree. Instead, you must take 3 credits of NUCE 596 Professional Topics in Nuclear Engineering, which represents formal recognition that you have completed a paper about an engineering subject. It must be approved by your adviser, a faculty reader, and the program chair.

Course List - Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering

Courses
Title	Abbreviation	Description	Credits
Nuclear and Radiochemistry	NUCE 405	Theory of radioactive decay processes, nuclear properties and structure, nuclear reactions, interactions of radiation with matter, biological effects of radiation. Prerequisite: CHEM 452 or PHYS 237 or NUCE 301	3 credits
Introduction to Statistical Thermodynamics	NUCE 406	Statistical description of systems composed of large numbers of particles in the context of classical and quantum mechanics; basic concepts of probability theory and thermodynamics as they relate to statistical mechanics. Prerequisite: ME 300 or ME 201 or ME 202 or MATH 231 or CH E 303 and MATH 230	3 credits
Nuclear Materials	NUCE 409	Nuclear reactor materials: relationship between changes in material properties and microstructural evolution of nuclear cladding and fuel under irradiation. Prerequisite: PHYS 214	3 credits
Radiological Safety	NUCE 420	Ionizing radiation, biological effects, radiation measurement, dose computational techniques, local and federal regulations, exposure control. Prerequisite: NUCE 301 or NUCE 405	3 credits
Radioactive Waste Control	NUCE 428	Nature, sources, and control of radioactive wastes; theory and practice of disposal processes. Prerequisite: NUCE 301 or NUCE 405	3 credits
Design Principles of Reactor Systems	NUCE 430	Nuclear power cycles; heat removal problems; kinetic behavior of nuclear systems; material and structural design problems. Prerequisite: ME 410 and NUCE 301 or NUCE 401	3 credits
Power Plant Simulation	NUCE 470	Basic knowledge necessary for intelligent simulation and interpretation of simulations of transients in nuclear power plants. Prerequisite: ME 320, MATH 251, NUCE 302	3 credits
Radiation and Measurement Detection Lab	NUCE 497	Laboratory experience in radiation detection and measurement. This course is required for students who do not have a baccalaureate degree in nuclear engineering and have not fulfilled an equivalent course requirement. Students who do not have an undergraduate degree in nuclear engineering should consult with the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering to determine if they need to complete this course.	1 credit
Reactor Engineering	NUCE 501	Thermal hydraulic fundamentals applied to power reactors, thermal analysis of fuel elements and two-phase heat transfer in heated channels. Prerequisite: NUCE 430	3 credits
Reactor Core Thermal–Hydraulics	NUCE 502	In-depth analysis of the reactor core thermal hydraulics; computational methods and practical applications. Prerequisite: NUCE 430	3 credits
Nuclear Reactor Kinetics and Dynamics	NUCE 511	Analytical kinetics and dynamics modeling for reactivity-induced transients; reactor accident kinetics methods for simple and complex geometries; experimental methods. Prerequisite: NUCE 301, NUCE 302	3 credits
Nuclear Fuel Management	NUCE 512	Nuclear fuel inventory determination and economic value through the fuel cycle. Emphasis on calculational techniques in reactor, optimization, and design. Prerequisite: NUCE 302	3 credits
Neutron Transport Theory	NUCE 521	Derivation of Boltzmann equation for neutron transport; techniques of approximate and exact solution for the monoenergetic and spectrum regenerating cases. Prerequisite: NUCE 403 or PHYS 406	3 credits
Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Plants	NUCE/MATSE 523	Degradation of materials performance when exposed to the combination of high temperature, neutron irradiation, and aggressive electrochemistry found in nuclear reactors. Prerequisite: NUCE 409	3 credits
Monte Carlo Methods	NUCE 525	Fundamentals of the probability theory and statistics, analog and non-analog Monte Carlo methods and their applications, random processes, and numbers. Prerequisite: NUCE 403 or PHYS 406	3 credits
Individual Studies – Professional Topics in Nuclear Engineering	NUCE 596	Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.	3 credits
Advanced Engineering Economy	IE 402	Concepts and techniques of analyses useful in evaluating engineering projects under deterministic and uncertain conditions. Prerequisite: I E 302, I E 322, I E 405	3 credits
Heat Transfer	ME 410	Thermal energy transfer mechanisms: conduction (steady, transient), convection (internal, external), radiation; lumped parameter method; heat exchangers; introduction to numerical methods. Prerequisite: AERSP 308, AERSP 311, C E 360 or ME 320, CMPSC 200 or CMPSC 202, MATH 220 or NUC E 309, MATH 251	3 credits
Finite Elements in Engineering	ME 461	Computer modeling and fundamental analysis of solid, fluid, and heat flow problems using existing computer codes. Prerequisite: E MCH 213, E MCH 210H or E MCH 210; CMPSC 200, CMPSC 201 or CMPSC 202	3 credits
Heat Transfer—Convection	ME 513	Laminar and turbulent flow heat transfer in natural and forced convection systems.	3 credits
Foundations of Fluid Mechanics II	ME 522	Second semester of core sequence in fluid mechanics; continuation of boundry layers, stability, transition, turbulence, turbulent boundry layers, turbulence models. Prequisite: ME 421 or ME 521	3 credits
Numerical Solutions Applied to Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics Problems	ME 523	Application of finite difference methods to the study of potential and viscous flows and conduction and convection heat transfer	3 credits
Simulation of Mechanical Systems	ME 581	Introduces computational fundamentals, including digital logic; programming language, basic numerical analysis and data processing, as applied to mechanical simulation techniques. Prequisite: ME 480	3 credits

Course Availability

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