Nuclear Electives

Suggested Courses for ME Students Interested in Nuclear Engineering

Mechanical Engineering majors must complete 15 credits of technical electives; no more than 3 credits can be from List # 2. Please consult your graduation checksheet or catalog (based on the year you entered Virginia Tech) to see a full list of technical electives and other restrictions for technical elective selection. Please see the Timetable of Classes for course availability, which can change without warning.  Most technical electives are taught no more than once per year. 

ME Students in the Nuclear Engineering minor can count most minor courses toward technical elective credit for the Mechanical Engineering major. Note that all courses used towards a minor must be taken in the A/F grade mode. For more information, please see the Nuclear Engineering minor website.

List #1 "In Department" Technical Electives

NSEG 3145 - Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering (3 credits) - typically taught Fall only
Application of fundamental principles of neutron physics and reactor theory. Introduction to nuclear cross-section data, neutron scattering, nuclear fission, and diffusion theory. Examination of current and next generation nuclear power. Pre: MATH 2214 or MATH 2215H.

NSEG 3146 - Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering (3 credits) - typically taught Spring only
Application of fundamental principles of neutron physics and reactor theory. Calculation of critical mass and dimensions of a reactor using modified one-group theory; reactivity changes in the core due to control rods, chemical boron shim, temperature changes, and fission production poisons. Determination of reactor thermal design criteria. Introduction to radiation protection and reactor accident analysis. Nuclear engineering ethics principles. Pre: NSEG 3145 or ME 3145

NSEG 3604 - Radiation Detection & Shielding (3 credits) - typically taught Fall only
Radioactive decay, interaction of charged particles and photons with matter, methods of radiation detection and radiation dosimetry, counting statistics, radiation protection criteria and exposure limits, external radiation protection using time, distance and shielding. Pre: PHYS 2306 Co: MATH 2214

NSEG 4204 - Nuclear Fuel Cycle (3 credits)  - typically taught Spring only
Uranium nuclear fuel cycle: mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacturing, in-core fuel management and refueling, spent fuel storage, reprocessing/recycling and final disposition as waste in a geologic repository. Introduction to nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation as applied to each step of the cycle. Pre: NSEG 3146

NSEG 4214 - Nuclear Power Plant Operations (3 credits) - typically taught Spring only
Emphasis on pressurized water reactor plant operations. Review of boiling water reactor operations. Detailed system functions and operation, reactor plant startup and shutdown procedures, reactor refueling, reactor plant safety analysis, reactor plant licensing, ethics and integrity in the nuclear industry. Pre: NSEG 3146 UG/G and Dual students should enroll in NSEG 5214

NSEG 4424 - Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (3 credits) - typically taught Fall only.
Fundamental processes of heat generation and transport in nuclear reactors: reactor coolant systems and components, heat generation and spatial distribution, heat transport by conduction and convection, single-phase flow, two-phase flow and boiling, critical heat flux. Pre: NSEG 3145

NSEG 5134 - Monte Carlo Particle Transport - typically taught Fall only. Graduate standing required.
Basic particle transport concepts. Random processes, random number generation techniques, fundamental formulation of Monte Carlo, sampling procedures, and fundamentals of probability and statistics. Monte Carlo algorithms for particle transport, non-analog Monte Carlo method, formulations for different variance reduction techniques, and tallying procedures. Methodologies for parallelization and vectorization of the Monte Carlo methods, and examples of the Monte Carlo method for simulation of various real-life applications. Graduate standing required

NSEG 5204 -  Nuclear Fuel Cycle (3 credits) - typically taught Fall only. Graduate standing required.
Uranium nuclear fuel cycle: mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel manufacturing, in-core fuel management and refueling, spent fuel storage, reprocessing/recycling and final disposition as waste in a geologic repository. Introduction to nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation as applied to each step of the cycle.

NSEG 5214 - Nuclear Plant Systems & Ops (3 credits). Graduate standing required. Check timetable for current course offerings.
Pressurized and boiling water reactors, detailed system functions and operation, reactor plant startup and shutdown procedures, reactor trip and casualty procedures, reactor transient response analysis, reactor plant licensing, ethics and integrity in the nuclear industry. PRE: NSEG 5114

NSEG 5284 - Nuclear Nonproliferation - typically taught Fall only. Graduate standing required.
Technical essentials, policy analysis, theoretical perspectives of nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation. Fundamentals of the nuclear fuel cycle, management of international safeguards, threat of nuclear terrorism, and challenges for global nuclear industry. Pre: Graduate standing.

NSEG 5424: Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (3 credits) - typically taught Fall only. Graduate standing required.
Fundamental processes of hear generation and transport in nuclear reactors. Heat generation by fission and radiation interactions; spatial distribution of heat generation; heat transport by conduction and convection. Effects of boiling and critical heat flux. Fundamentals of reactor thermal and hydraulic design. Pre: NSEG 5114

List #1 Technical Elective

MSE 4384: Nuclear Materials (3 credits) - typically taught Fall only 
An introduction to materials for nuclear applications with emphasis on fission reactors. Fundamental radiation effects on materials; material properties relevant to structural, moderator, reflector, blanket, coolant, control shielding and safety systems; processes such as nuclear fuel cycles, fuel enrichment and reprocessing; and related structural systems. Pre: (MSE 3044 or ME 3304), (MSE 3054 or ESM 3054 or ME 3614).