nuclear engineering

nuclear engineering [′nü·klē·ər ‚en·jə′nir·iŋ]

(nucleonics)

The branch of technology that deals with the utilization of the nuclear fission process, and is concerned with the design and construction of nuclear reactors and auxiliary facilities, the development and fabrication of special materials, and the handling and processing of reactor products.

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Nuclear engineering

The branch of engineering that deals with the production and use of nuclear energy and nuclear radiation. The multidisciplinary field of nuclear engineering is studied in many universities. In some it is offered in a special nuclear engineering department; in others it is offered in other departments, such as mechanical or chemical engineering. Primarily, nuclear engineering involves the conception, development, design, construction, operation, and decommissioning of facilities in which nuclear energy or nuclear radiation is generated or used.

Examples of facilities include nuclear power plants; nuclear propulsion reactors used for the propulsion of ships and submarines; space nuclear reactors, used to power satellites, probes, and vehicles; nuclear production reactors, which produce fissile or fusile materials used in nuclear weapons; nuclear research reactors, which generate neutrons and gamma rays for scientific research and medical and industrial applications; gamma cells, which are used for sterilizing medical equipment and food and for manufacturing polymers; particle accelerators, which produce nuclear radiation for use in medical and industrial applications; and nuclear waste repositories. See Nuclear power, Nuclear reactor, Radioactive waste management

Many nuclear engineers are also involved in the research and development of future fusion power plants—plants that will be based on the fusion reaction for generating nuclear energy. Many challenging engineering problems are involved, including the development of technologies for heating the fusion fuel to hundreds of millions of degrees; confining this ultrahot fuel; and compressing fusion fuel to many thousand times their natural solid density. See Nuclear fusion