Curriculum in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
214 Nuclear Engineering Laboratory
103 South Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-2295
Fax: (217) 333-2906
E-mail: nuclear@uiuc.edu
For the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering
Nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering is a branch of engineering that is concerned with the development and use of nuclear energy and radiation sources for a wide variety of applications in energy production, in materials processing and science, and for biomedical and industrial uses. Areas of interest include the continued safe and reliable application of fission reactors as central electric power plant thermal sources; plasma processing applications and the longer term development of fusion reactors for electric power generation; and the use of radiation sources in such areas as materials, biological systems, medical treatment, radiation instrumentation, environmental systems, and activation analysis.
Educational Objectives
Students pursuing the curriculum in nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering should develop a comprehensive understanding of basic sciences, basic engineering, and advanced technical areas specific to nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering and the means to employ these principles in engineering practice. This should include the ability to synthesize various concepts in engineering design and in the development of new engineering concepts, understanding, and applications. Students should develop a broad university-level understanding and appreciation of social and behavioral sciences, humanities, human cultures, and advanced communications skills consistent with the principles of general education. Students should also develop an appreciation of their abilities to contribute to society through ethical engineering practice. The curriculum should provide a large, flexible selection of both technical and free electives, which enables students to emphasize breadth or depth of study or both in their chosen field of concentration. The curriculum should prepare its graduates not only to enter directly into a wide variety of careers in nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering but also to continue advanced professional study at the graduate level. The curriculum should prepare students, regardless of their chosen career path, to continue their professional development throughout their careers.
Educational Outcomes
The nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering degree program seeks to produce graduates who are able to:
- understand and apply principal concepts in mathematics, physics, chemistry and engineering sciences,
- understand and apply principal concepts in the area of radiation sources, interactions, and transport,
- understand and apply advanced engineering concepts in their chosen area of professional concentration, consistent with full preparation for graduate-level, advanced professional study in that or other areas,
- comprehend and apply computational techniques,
- communicate effectively verbally and in writing,
- analyze engineering problems, think critically and inventively about solutions to engineering problems, and use judgment to formulate effective approaches to solutions,
- address more complex engineering problems by synthesizing and adapting knowledge from several areas and use this approach effectively in engineering design,
- incorporate a perspective about ethical, social, and cultural values and an international perspective into their engineering practice,
- maintain a professional outlook that embodies continued learning and professional development throughout their professional lives,
- appreciate an appropriate variety of basic and advanced concepts in other disciplines (i.e. general education),
- work effectively alone, in small groups, and in larger interdisciplinary groups.
The Curriculum
The first two years of the curriculum provides a strong foundation in basic sciences (physics, mathematics, and chemistry), engineering sciences (analytical mechanics and thermodynamics), an introduction to digital computer use, and introduction to nuclear energy systems. Most technical concentration takes place in the third and fourth years of the curriculum according to the educational and career interest of the students. The curriculum provides three professional concentration areas: power, safety and the environment; plasma and fusion science and engineering; and radiological, medical, and instrumentation applications. Each concentration area follows flexibility in developing advanced technical expertise but also requires depth of understanding in the area. The third path meets all pre-med requirements and facilitates the minor in bioengineering. To complete this concentration area, students should take certain chemistry and biology courses in the first two years of the curriculum.
The curriculum requires 128 hours for graduation.
Suggested Sequence
First year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | CHEM 102—General Chemistry I |
| 1 | CHEM 103—General Chemistry Lab I |
| 0 | ENG 100—Engineering Lecture |
| 5 | MATH 220—Calculus I |
| 1 | NPRE 100—Orient to Nucl Plasma Rad Eng |
| 4-3 | RHET 105—Principles of Composition1 or Free elective |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities2 |
| 17-16 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | CS 101—Intro to Computing, Eng & Sci3 |
| 3 | MATH 230—Calculus II |
| 4 | PHYS 211—Univ Physics, Mechanics |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities2 |
| 3-4 | Free elective4 or RHET 105—Principles of Composition1 |
| 16-17 | Total |
Second year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | MATH 242—Calculus of Several Variables |
| 4 | PHYS 212—Univ Physics, Elec & Mag |
| 2 | TAM 210—Introduction to Statics3 |
| 3 | NPRE concentration elective5 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities2 |
| 15 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 2 | AE 252—Intro to Aerospace Dynamics3 |
| 3 | MATH 385—Intro Differential Equations |
| 3 | ME 300—Thermodynamics |
| 2 | PHYS 214—Univ Physics, Quantum Phys |
| 3 | NPRE 247—Modeling Nuclear Energy System |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities2 |
| 16 | Total |
Third year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | ECE 205—Intro Elec & Electr Circuits |
| 1 | ECE 206—Intro Elec & Electr Ckts Lab |
| 3 | MATH 380—Advanced Calculus |
| 3 | NPRE 446—Prin Rad Interact Matter, I |
| 4–3 | TAM 335—Introductory Fluid
Mechanics, or ME 310—Introductory Gas Dynamics or elective in radiological, medical, and instrumentation application6 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities2 |
| 17–16 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | NPRE 421—Plasma and Fusion Science6 |
| 3 | NPRE 447—Prin Rad Interact Matter, I |
| 3 | NPRE 451—Nucl Plasma Rad Eng Lab |
| 3 | NPRE 455—Neutron Diffusion & Transport |
| 2 | NPRE concentration elective5 |
| 3 | Free elective |
| 17 | Total |
Fourth year
| Hours | First Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | NPRE 431—Materials in Nuclear Eng |
| 3 | NPRE 448—Nuclear Sys Eng and Design |
| 6-7 | NPRE concentration elective5 |
| 3 | Elective in social sciences or humanities2 |
| 15–16 | Total |
| Hours | Second Semester |
|---|---|
| 3 | NPRE 441—Prin of Radiation Protection |
| 4 | NPRE 458—Design in Nucl Plasma Rad Eng |
| 8 | NPRE concentration elective5 |
| 15 | Total |
1. RHET 105 may be taken in the first or second semester of the first year as authorized. The alternative is a free elective.
2. Each student must satisfy the 18-hour social sciences and humanities requirements of the College of Engineering, including ECON 102 or 103, and satisfy the campus general education requirements for social science and humanities.
3. Students may elect to take CS 125 in
place of CS 101, TAM 211 in place of TAM 210, and TAM 212 in place of AE 252. The extra hour
will be applied toward the NPRE concentration electives.
4. Consideration should be given to NPRE 101—Introduction to Energy
Sources and NPRE 199—Undergraduate Open Seminar as free electives in the spring semester of the freshman or sophomore year. Alternately,
free elective hours provide a means to fulfill requirements for campur minors such as
Bioengineering, Computer Science, International Minor in Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics, without excessive
additional hours beyond the normal degree requirements.
5. A student must fulfill the NPRE professional concentration requirement
by taking the required technical courses and technical elective courses
in one of the three professional concentration areas: Power, Safety,
and the Environment; Plasma and Fusion Science Engineering; or Radiological,
Medical, and Instrumentation Applications.
6. Students in the Power, Safety, and the Environment and in the Plasma
and Fusion Science Engineering concentration paths must take a fluid
mechanics course and NPRE 421. Students
in the Radiological, Medical, and Instrumentation Applications concentration
path must select courses from their technical elective sequences.
Professional Concentration Areas
Students must fulfill the professional concentration area requirements by completing the required courses and technical elective course requirements in one of the three areas of professional concentration: power, safety, and the environment; plasma and fusion science and engineering; or radiological, medical, and instrumentation applications. Students are encouraged to select a concentration area as early in their program as possible, and no later than their fourth semester. The number of required technical course and technical elective course hours is 26 semester hours. The course requirements for each area are indicated below.
Students are encouraged to follow the example sequences of technical elective courses to develop a solid background in one of the various technical concentration areas. Students must select a set of technical elective courses to build depth in a specific area, rather than select introductory courses in each of several subfields. The student's academic advisor must approve the student's course sequence to insure that a strong technical concentration program is achieved.
Power, Safety, and the Environment
NPRE students who wish to specialize in the Power, Safety, and the Environment option must take 9 hours of required engineering courses and select 17 or 18 hours of technical electives as described here:
Required Courses
Students must take a fluid mechanics course (3 or 4 hours), a plasma and fusion engineering course (3 hours), and an advanced laboratory course (2 hours):
| Hours | Required Courses |
|---|---|
| 4 | TAM 335—Introductory Fluid
Mechanics, or ME 310—Introductory Gas Dynamics |
| 3 | NPRE/ECE 421/PHYS 479—Plasma and Fusion Science |
| 2 | NPRE 432—Nuclear Eng Materials Lab or NPRE 453—Nuclear Reactor Laboratory |
Electives
Students must take a minimum of six hours from the following list:
| Hours | NPRE Electives |
|---|---|
| 2 | NPRE 201—Energy Systems |
| 3 | NPRE 412—Nuclear Power Econ & Fuel Mgmt |
| 2 | NPRE 442—Radioactive Waste Management |
| 3 | NPRE 457—Safety Anlys Nucl Reactor Sys |
| 3 | NPRE/GLBL 480—Topics in Energy Security |
| 3 | NPRE/GLBL 481—Writ Sem on Tech & Security |
| 1 | NPRE/GLBL 482—Miltry & Civ Uses Nucl Energy |
| 1 | NPRE/GLBL 483—Seminar on Security |
| 3 | NPRE 498—Special Topics (Contact the undergraduate studies office of the department for a current list of approved topics and course sections.) |
Students must select the remaining 11 hours of technical electives from the following lists, or course sequences that provide similar depth in a single discipline:
| Hours | Thermal Sciences |
|---|---|
| 4 | ME 320—Heat Transfer |
| 3 | ME 400—Energy Conversion Systems |
| 3 | ME 402—Design of Thermal Systems |
| 4 | ME 404—Intermediate Thermodynamics |
| 4 | ME 410—Intermediate Gas Dynamics |
| 4 | ME 411—Viscous Flow and Heat Transfer |
| 4 | ME 420—Intermediate Heat Transfer |
| Hours | Power and Control Systems |
|---|---|
| 3 | ECE 329—Intro Electromagnetic Fields |
| 4 | ECE 410—Digital Signal Processing, I |
| 3 | ECE 430—Power Ckts & Electromechanics |
| 3 | ECE 476—Power System Analysis |
| 4 | ECE 486—Control Systems |
| Hours | Solid, Fluid and Continuum Mechanics |
|---|---|
| 3 | TAM 251—Introductory Solid Mechanics |
| 1 | TAM 252—Solid Mechanics Design |
| 3 | TAM 424—Mechanics of Structural Metals |
| 4 | TAM 435—Intermediate Fluid Mechanics |
| 4 | TAM 445—Continuum Mechanics |
| 4 | TAM 451—Intermediate Solid Mechanics |
| 3 | TAM 456—Experimental Stress Analysis |
| Hours | Computational Sciences and Engineering |
|---|---|
| 3 | CS 257—Numerical Methods |
| 3 | CSE 401/CS/MATH 450/ECE 491—Intro to Numerical Analysis |
| 3 | CSE 411/CS/MATH 455—Numerical Methods for PDEs |
| 3 | CSE 412/CS/MATH 458—Numerical Linear Algebra |
| 3 | CSE 413/CS/MATH 459—Numerical Approx and ODEs |
| 3 | ME 471—Intro to Finite Element Anlys |
| Hours | Environmental Engineering and Science |
|---|---|
| 3 | CEE 201—Systems Engrg & Economics |
| 3 | CEE 330—Environmental Engineering |
| 3 | CEE 437—Water Quality Engineering |
| 2 or 4 | CEE 443—Env Eng Principles, Chemical |
| 3 | CEE 444—Env Eng Principles, Biological |
| 3 | CEE 445—Air Quality Modeling |
| 3 | CEE 446—Air Quality Engineering |
| 3 | CEE 447—Atmospheric Chemistry |
Plasma and Fusion Science and Engineering
NPRE students who wish to specialize in the Plasma and Fusion Science and Engineering option are required to take two plasma courses (6 hours), a fluid mechanics course (4 hours), an advanced plasmas laboratory course (2 hours), and select the remaining 14 hours of technical electives as described below.
Required Courses
| Hours | Required Courses |
|---|---|
| 3 | NPRE/ECE 421/PHYS 479—Plasma and Fusion Science |
| 3 | NPRE 429—Plasma Engineering |
| 4 | TAM 335—Introductory Fluid
Mechanics or ME 310—Introductory Gas Dynamics |
| 2 | NPRE 423—Plasma Laboratory |
Technical Electives
14 or 15 hours must be selected from the following lists, or course sequences that provide similar depth in a single discipline.
| Hours | Physical Science Electives |
|---|---|
| 3 | CHEM 104—General Chemistry II (Physical Version) |
| 1 | CHEM 105—General Chemistry Lab II (Physical Version) |
| 3 | PHYS 435—Electromagnetic Fields I |
| 3 | PHYS 436—Electromagnetic Fields II |
| 4 | PHYS 460—Condensed Matter Physics |
| Hours | Electrical Engineering Electives |
|---|---|
| 3 | ECE 329—Intro Electromagnetic Fields |
| 3 | ECE 440—Solid State Electronic Devices |
| 3 | ECE 441—Physcs & Modeling Semicond Dev |
| 4 | ECE 444—IC Device Theory & Fabrication |
| 3 | ECE 484—Prin Adv Microelec Processing |
| Hours | Electronic Materials Electives |
|---|---|
| 3 | MSE 304—Electronic Properties of Matls |
| 3 | MSE 403—Synthesis of Materials |
| 3 | MSE 460—Electronic Matis & Proc, I |
| 3 | MSE 461—Electronic Matis & Proc, II |
| 3 | MSE 462—Electronic Materials Lab |
Radiological, Medical and Instrumentation Applications
NPRE students who wish to specialize in the Radiological, Medical and Instrumentation Applications option must take the required advanced radiological engineering course (3 hours) and one of the required advanced laboratory courses (2 hours) and select 21 to 22 hours of technical electives as described below.
| Hours | Radiological Engineering Required Courses |
|---|---|
| 3 | NPRE 435—Prin Imaging w Ionizing Rad |
| 2 | MCB 403—Cell & Membrane Physiology Lab or NPRE 444—Nuclear Analytical Methods Lab |
Technical Electives
21 to 22 hours must be selected from the following lists, or course sequences that provide similar depth in a single discipline. The initial list contains technical courses that are prerequisite for the more advanced sequences.
| Hours | Common Engineering and Technical Electives |
|---|---|
| 1 | BIOE 120—Introduction to Bioengineering |
| 3 | CHEM 104—General Chemistry II (Physical Version) |
| 1 | CHEM 105—General Chemistry Lab II (Physical Version) |
| 3 | CHEM 232—Elementary Organic Chemistry I |
| 2 | CHEM 233—Elementary Organic Chem Lab I |
| 4 | IB 150—Organismal & Evolutionary Biol |
| 1 | IB 151—Organismal & Evol Biol Lab |
| 4 | MCB 150—Molec & Cellular Basis of Life |
| 1 | MCB 151—Molec & Cellular Laboratory |
| 4 | ME 310—Introductory Gas Dynamics |
| 3 | NPRE/ECE 421/PHYS 479—Plasma and Fusion Science |
| 4 | TAM 335—Introductory Fluid Mechanics |
| Hours | Biomolecular Engineering Electives |
|---|---|
| 1 | BIOE 120—Introduction to Bioengineering |
| 3 | BIOEN 414—Biomedical Instrumentation or
BIOE 472—Techniques in Biomolecular Eng |
| 3 | CHEM 232—Elementary Organic Chemistry I |
| 3 | MCB 450—Introductory Biochemistry |
| 3 | MCB 401—Cell & Membrane
Physiology or BIOP 401 Introduction to Biophysics |
| 2 | MCB 403—Cell & Membrane Physiology Lab |
| 3 | NPRE 441—Prin of Radiation Protection |
| Hours | Biomedical Engineering Electives |
|---|---|
| 1 | BIOE 120—Introduction to Bioengineering |
| 3 | CHEM 232—Elementary Organic Chemistry I |
| 3 | ECE/BIOE 280—Biomedical Imaging |
| 3 | ECE/BIOE 414—Biomedical Instrumentation
or BIOE 472 Techniques in Biomolecular Eng |
| 2 | ECE/BIOE 415—Biomedical Instrumentation Lab |
| 3 | ECE/BIOE 480—Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
| 3 | MCB 401—Cell & Membrane
Physiology or BIOP 401—Introduction to Biophysics |
| 3 | MCB 402—Sys & Integrative Physiology |
| 2 | MCB 403—Cell & Membrane Physiology Lab |
| 2 | MCB 404—Sys & Integrative
Physiol Lab or MCB 103—Intro to Human Physiology |