Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Course Description
Problems in nuclear engineering often involve applying knowledge from many disciplines simultaneously in achieving satisfactory solutions. The course will focus on understanding the complete nuclear reactor system including the balance of plant, support systems and resulting interdependencies affecting the overall safety of the plant and regulatory oversight. Both the Seabrook and Pilgrim nuclear plant simulators will be used as part of the educational experience to provide as realistic as possible understanding of nuclear power systems short of being at the reactor.
Course Requirements
Texts
Knief, R. A. Nuclear Engineering: Theory and Technology of Commercial Nuclear Power. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Hemisphere, 1992. ISBN: 9781560320890.
Supplemental Text for Power Conversion Lectures
El-Wakil, M. M. Nuclear Energy Conversion. Scranton, PA: Intext Educational Publishers, 1971. ISBN: 9780700223107.
Assignments
Assigned every class, due next class after date of assignment. Late homework will receive up to 1/2 full credit.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Homework | 15% |
| Exam 1 | 30% |
| Exam 2 | 30% |
| Final exam | 25% |
MIT Literature Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism—use of another's intellectual work without acknowledgement—is a serious offense. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else's work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student's own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult the style guides available at the Writing and Communication Center and the MIT Web site on Plagiarism.
Calendar
| SES # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Overview, goals of course Review of reactor types | |
| 2 | Review of reactor physics | |
| 3 | Review of reactor kinetics and control | |
| 4 | Review of feedback effects and depletion | |
| 5 | MIT reactor physics exercise – power change – feedbacks | |
| 6 |
Reactor heat removal MITR experiment | |
| 7 | Design issues: power cycles for nuclear plants | |
| 8 | Power cycles for nuclear plants – Rankine and Brayton cycle | MITR assignment due |
| 9 | Power cycles continued | |
| 10 | Safety systems and functions |
Exam 1 is a week after Ses #10 PRISM assignment due |
| 11 | Safety analysis report and LOCA | |
| 12 | Probabilistic safety analysis | |
| 13 | Safety goals and risk informed decision making | |
| 14 | Integration of safety analysis into operational requirements | |
| 15 | Simulation exercises of accidents and transients | |
| 16 | Boiling water reactors | |
| 17 | Seabrook background information and preparation for simulator exercise | PRISM assignment due |
| 18 | Simulator exercise – Seabrook PWR – LOCA, steam line break, etc | |
| 19 | Preparation for simulator exercise – BWR | |
| 20 | Simulator exercise – Pilgrim BWR – LOCA, steam line break, rod repositioning | |
| 21 | Significant nuclear accidents – Three Mile Island | |
| 22 | Significant nuclear accidents – Chernobyl | Simulator assignment due |
| 23 | Importance of precursors – Davis Besse Near Miss 2002 | |
| 24 | Role of safety culture | Exam 2 is 2 days after Ses #24 |
| 25 | Current regulatory issues | |
| 26 | Advanced reactor designs – EPR, ABWR, ESBWR, AP-1000, Pebble Bed Reactor | Final exam is 1 week after Ses #26 |