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Nuclear engineering is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes.[1][2]The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide, some 439 nuclear reactors in31 countries generate 10 percent of the world's energy throughnuclear fission.[3] In the future, it is expected thatnuclear fusion will add another nuclear means of generating energy.[4] Both reactions make use of thenuclear binding energy released when atomicnucleons are either separated (fission) or brought together (fusion). The energy available is given by thebinding energy curve, and the amount generated is much greater than that generated through chemical reactions. Fission of 1 gram of uranium yields as much energy as burning 3 tons of coal or 600 gallons of fuel oil,[5] without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.[6]
Nuclear engineering was born in 1938, with the discovery of nuclear fission.[7] The firstartificial nuclear reactor,CP-1, was designed by a team of physicists who were concerned thatNazi Germany might also be seeking to build a bomb based on nuclear fission. (The earliest known nuclear reaction on Earth occurrednaturally, 1.7 billion years ago, in Oklo, Gabon, Africa.) The second artificial nuclear reactor, theX-10 Graphite Reactor, was also a part of theManhattan Project, as were theplutonium-producing reactors of theHanford Engineer Works.
The first nuclear reactor to generate electricity wasExperimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I), which did so nearArco, Idaho, in 1951.[8] EBR-I was a standalone facility, not connected to a grid, but a later Idaho research reactor in theBORAX series did briefly supply power to the town of Arco in 1955.
The first commercial nuclear power plant, built to be connected to an electrical grid, is theObninsk Nuclear Power Plant, which began operation in 1954. The second is theShippingport Atomic Power Station, which produced electricity in 1957.
For a chronology, from the discovery of uranium to the current era, seeOutline History of Nuclear Energy orHistory of Nuclear Power. Also seeHistory of Nuclear Engineering Part 1: Radioactivity,Part 2: Building the Bomb, andPart 3: Atoms for Peace.
SeeList of Commercial Nuclear Reactors for a comprehensive listing of nuclear power reactors andIAEA Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) for worldwide and country-level statistics on nuclear power generation.
Nuclear engineers work in such areas as the following:[9][10][11]
Manychemical,electrical andmechanical and other types of engineers also work in the nuclear industry, as do many scientists and support staff. In the U.S., nearly 100,000 people directly work in the nuclear industry. Includingsecondary sector jobs, the number of people supported by the U.S. nuclear industry is 475,000.[17]
In the United States, nuclear engineers are employed as follows:[18]
Job prospects for nuclear engineers worldwide are not available, but the IAEA estimates that nuclear energy capacity will grow by 40% (an additional 514 GW(e) ) to 2.5 times current capacity (an additional 950 GW(e)) by 2050.[19] Countries with existing nuclear energy capacity and those actively exploring nuclear energy are listed in the following.[citation needed]
Organizations that provide study and training in nuclear engineering include the following:
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