The Nuclear Engineering program offers the master of science, the doctor of engineering, and the doctor of philosophy degrees. To enter our graduate program, you should hold a B.S. degree in some branch of engineering or physical science. The master's degree program is designed to provide you with competence in designing nuclear energy systems and learning their operation based upon your scientific and engineering background. Competence in at least one supporting area (usually your undergraduate major, if other than nuclear engineering) is also required. You may choose an M.S. with thesis requiring a total of 30 hours or an M.S. without thesis requiring 30 hours.

Research areas in which you can specialize are:

• reactor design
• reactor safety
• probabilistic risk assessment
• thermal hydraulics
• radiation effects
• radiation protection
• radiation transport and shielding
• space nuclear power
• materials for nuclear applications
• fuel cycle
• radioactive waste management
• applications of radioisotopes

In the Ph.D. program, a student must complete a research project and write a dissertation of sufficient caliber to demonstrate his/her capacity to conduct original investigations, to analyze the results critically, and to develop sound conclusions. The dissertation should represent original research acceptable for publication in a refereed journal.
Our department has the following laboratory facilities for your use.

A 200 kW pool-type reactor has been operating since 1961. It has a beam port, a thermal column and pneumatic transfer tubes. The reactor was refueled with low enriched uranium in the summer of 1992. The reactor is used for reactivity experiments, neutron activation analysis, radiation damage studies, neutron radiography, signal analysis, and materials processing. The reactor facility is equipped with state of the art detection instruments and associated electronics for neutron activation analysis.
Recently acquired console equipment has been interfaced with computer data acquisition systems to extend research into artificial intelligence, neural networking, and noise analysis.

The laboratory is equipped with modern radiation detection and analysis equipment. The students learn to measure and analyze various forms of radiation sources.

The facilities of the Graduate Center for Materials Research, and metallurgical engineering and nuclear engineering departments are available for nuclear materials-related research. These facilities include instruments such as a scanning electron microscope, a 300 keV EM-430 Phillips transmission electron microscope, an atomic absorption spectrometer, and a quadrupole mass spectrometer.

You will have the opportunity to use large computer codes commonly used in the nuclear industry for reactor core design, radiation transport, and thermal hydraulics analysis. The nuclear engineering department maintains an excellent laboratory with IBM compatible and Macintosh personal computers, and Hewlett Packard and Sun workstations.

Gepford, Heather J., Ph.D., CHP,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering. Radiation protection, radiation dosimetry, internal dosimetry, biological effects.

Kim, Seungjin, Ph.D.,
Purdue University, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering. Interfacial area transport equation, theoretical modeling of fluid particle interactions, development of the miniaturized conductivity probes, direct containment heating.

Kumar, Arvind, Ph.D.,
University of California-Berkeley, Department Chair and Professor of Nuclear Engineering. Nuclear materials, radiation damage, and mechanical properties.

Mueller, Gary Edward, Ph.D., 1
University of Missouri-Rolla, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering. Nuclear power safety analysis, heat transfer and fluid flow, space nuclear power systems.

Tokuhiro, Akira, Ph.D.
Purdue University, Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Reactor Director. Experiments in thermal-fluid sciences, reactor safety instrumentation, thermohydraulics, safety issues and policy.

Tsoulfanidis, Nicholas, Ph.D., 1
University of Illinois, Associate Dean School of Mines and Metallurgy, Professor of Nuclear Engineering, and Radiation Safety Officer. Radiation transport and shielding, health physics, nuclear fuel cycle, and radioactive waste management.

1 Registered Professional Engineer