Graduate Nuclear Engineering CertificateCERTIFICATE IN NUCLEAR ENGINEERINGThe new initiative in Graduate Certificate in Nuclear Engineering will focus on operations and safety. It will be aimed at engineering graduates and professionals with a baccalaureate engineering degree who have demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge in their nuclear related specialty. We expect a number of students to be currently working at nuclear power stations and nuclear vendor organizations. The program design will provide students with:
Program content has been and will continue to be developed in consultation with engineers and managers from Westinghouse, Bechtel Bettis, Inc., First Energy Corporation as well as from the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The University of Pittsburgh enjoys proximity to and good relations with these constituencies. Hence, the availability of unique facilities and adjunct faculty will be a major strength of this program’s focus. The program is designed so that MS students in any of the School’s existing engineering disciplines will be able to earn the certificate by taking no more than two additional graduate level courses. Further, by focusing on nuclear operations and safety, we not only fulfill a recognized educational need, but have also designed a program that takes advantage of the unique industrial resources in the Pittsburgh area. Integrating these resources into our graduate coursework will greatly enhance student learning. ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTSThe objectives of the proposed Graduate Certificate in Nuclear Engineering are:
CoursesAll students must successfully complete five of the following courses: ENGR 2101: Nuclear Plant and Reactor Dynamics 1 This course reviews the mathematics of nuclear reactor kinetics. Linear systems of ordinary differential equations are solved by state vector techniques, Laplace transform techniques, or finite difference techniques including the treatment of discretization errors resulting from various finite differencing approximations. A review of the physics of nuclear kinetics is followed by treatments of the kinetics equations including the effect of uncertainties, approximate solutions, and the interpretation of experiments to measure kinetics parameters. Representations and the physical basis of reactivity feedback mechanisms are treated. Lumped and distributed parameter models of fuel, coolant, fission products are derived and applied to develop quantitative static relationships and qualitative dynamic results for transient conditions. The course provides an introduction to space dependent reactor kinetics. ENGR 2102: Nuclear Plant and Reactor Dynamics 2 This course provides an integrated engineering examination of a nuclear power plant from the perspective of instrumentation and control systems used to infer the condition of the nuclear plants and its systems, control its normal operation, and provide protection during transient situations as well as assess core damage during severe accident situations. Students will apply previous knowledge of analog, digital, and microprocessor electronics techniques to nuclear power plant design and operation and reactor protection and safety considerations that influence the design of the reactor plant. A major outcome of this course will be an integrated understanding of the interaction between the physics of nuclear plant control (reactivity and heat balance) and the control and protection systems. This integrated plant understanding will be essential for the successful completion of the Integrated Nuclear Power Plant Operations course. ENGR 2103: Integration of Nuclear Plant Systems with the Reactor Core This course examines design bases for major systems and components in a nuclear plant and evaluates how the systems function in an integrated fashion. The student will examine a typical nuclear power plant and those components and systems of the nuclear plant complex that have the potential for affecting core power, and whose failure could be an initiating event for a plant transient. Emphasis is on how operations of and faults in systems and components can influence reactivity and core behavior. Through classroom discussions the students will assess engineering problems and operational problems that have been experienced in historical nuclear plant operations. The intended outcome is an aptitude for predicting complex transient behavior of the integrated nuclear plant considering factors that are important for safe and efficient operation: reactivity management and control, coolant inventory control, and core heat removal. ENGR 2104: Nuclear Operations Safety This course reviews the development of reactor safety concepts, the emergence of safety strategies and culture, and the perspectives of severe accidents and how they can be mitigated. Risk-influenced regulatory practices will be introduced and quantitative use of probabilistic risk assessment will be described in terms of its use as a guide to intelligent decision-making. The characteristics of accident progression in the reactor vessel and containment in the unlikely event of core melting and relocation of fuel material will be explained. Offsite impacts of such severe accidents will be introduced. Source terms, dispersion of radionuclides, and dose projections will be developed for both conservative and realistic evolutions. Protective actions and emergency preparedness will be introduced. This course will cover the regulatory aspects of nuclear operations and the roles that the NRC, INPO, WANO and the IAEA play and what impact each has on plant operations. An introduction into regulatory requirements, the Safety Analysis Report, nuclear safety and licensing, and whistle-blower rules will be provided. ENGR 2105: Integrated Nuclear Power Plant Operations This course provides a capstone hands-on-simulator and classroom experience to promote understanding how the integrated plant works and what challenges the operator faces, and to help an engineer “speak operations” with the interfacing groups. Use of the simulator is an effective way for students to understand accident control and Emergency Operating Procedures, and how the control room interfaces with the rest of the plant. Emphasis is placed on understanding plant characteristics and controls, rather than on developing control manipulation skills. Intended outcomes are an aptitude for predicting transient behavior of the integrated plant and a command of reactivity management and control that is important for efficient operation of a nuclear plant complex. The course presumes knowledge of the major systems in a nuclear power plant and will emphasize how operations of and faults in those systems and components can affect reactivity and core transient behavior. ENGR 2110: Nuclear Materials This course presumes that students have the knowledge base needed to understand materials issues associated with the design and operation of nuclear power plants, such as basic concepts of physical metallurgy, a mechanistic and microstructural-based view of material properties, and basic metallurgical principles. This course will cover the metallurgy and phase diagrams of alloy systems important in the design of commercial nuclear power plants. The micro-structural changes that result from reactor exposure (including radiation damage and defect cluster evolution) are discussed in detail. The aim is to create a linkage between changes in the material microstructure and changes in the macroscopic behavior of the material. Also discussed is the corrosion of cladding materials as well the effects of irradiation on corrosion performance, as well as the effects of primary and secondary coolant chemistry on corrosion. Both mathematical methods and experimental techniques are emphasized so that theoretical modeling is guided by experimental data. Materials issues in current commercial nuclear reactors and materials issues in future core and plant designs are covered. ENGR 2115: Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in Nuclear Plants This course provides advanced knowledge to promote understanding and application of thermal and hydraulic tools and procedures used in reactor plant design and analysis. It assumes that the student has a fundamental knowledge base in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer and reactor thermal analysis. The focus of the course is on physical and mathematical concepts useful for design and analysis of light water nuclear reactor plants. Applications of mass, momentum, and energy balances are combined with use of water properties to analyze the entire reactor plant complex as a whole. Principles are applied through the application of major industry codes to specific cases. ENGR 2120: Nuclear Plant Security This course will be designed in conjunction with colleagues at the University’s Center for National Preparedness. This broad, multidisciplinary, collaborative enterprise engages the University’s scientists, engineers, policy experts, and clinical faculty in issues realted to security and safety. Members of the Center possess expertise in biomedical research, public health, medicine, national security policy, engineering, and information technology. The Center synthesizes efforts in place in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Public Health, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and the Schools of Engineering, Information Sciences, Law, Medicine, and Nursing. Research, education, and training are the foundation of this enterprise. The Center communicates the innovative research of the University’s faculty to the broader public through the educational and training programs in which students, policymakers, and other interested parties participate. The Center supports research and applications that are directed at the University’s numerous constituencies. The Center contributes to local, state, and national preparedness. ENGR 2130: Environmental Issues and Solutions for Nuclear Power This course will be developed in conjunction with University of Pittsburgh faculty with an interest in environmental issues impacting the nuclear power industry including School of Engineering faculty involved with the Mascaro Sustainability Initiative, faculty from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. The course will address such topics as sustainable energy resources, engineering and societal ethical concerns, risk analysis, and future energy supplies in general and as each of these topics relates to such specific issues as the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear reactor safety, nuclear waste disposal and transportation, and GEN IV and the hydrogen economy. Students will better understand the socio-economic issues surrounding achieving a sustainable nuclear power future as it impacts fuel acquisition, plant operation and waste disposal. Timeline for course development and implementationExternal funding has been obtained to initiate a course development effort. This funding will also enable us to offer both the undergraduate and graduate courses. The graduate courses are anticipated to generate sufficient net graduate tuition to continue to cover instructor costs. Graduate courses will be developed the term prior to which they will be offered. Although the first two graduate courses are being offered in the Fall 2007 term, we now have course development money that will enable us to not only create a well-designed set of graduate courses, but also to begin to offer a distance learning option in the future. In doing this we will work closely with CIDDE to explore the various options for this mode of instruction. Our current plans are to use our closed circuit TV capability to open additional classrooms at one or two industrial sites, with all students taking the course "live." TABLE 1: Nuclear Engineering Course Offerings
Admissions RequirementsStudents must first be admitted to one of the six graduate departments within the School of Engineering prior to their acceptance into the program. Once admitted for graduate study within the School of Engineering, students may apply internally for admission to the certificate program. Certain students who do not have a basic understanding of nuclear engineering may be required to take one or more of the undergraduate courses (ENGR 1700, 1701 and 1702) in order to obtain an appropriate background for the program. These courses would not count for graduate credit for either an MS degree or for the certificate. It is anticipated that a few students may wish to take the certificate but not pursue an MS degree. However, such students must first be admitted to an School of Engineering graduate program. |
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