Credit Hours:3-0-3
Prerequisites:NRE 6201 or equivalent, or with the consent of the instructor
Catalog Description:Fission fuel cycle, uranium mining and milling, enrichment. Fuel fabrication. In-core fuel management. Reprocessing and fuel cycle economics. Spent-fuel waste management.
Textbooks:Robert G. Cochran and Nicholas Tsoulfanidis, The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Analysis and Management, Second Edition, American Nuclear Society, 1999.
Instructors:Bojan Petrovic
References:

Nuclear Chemical Engineering, M. Benedict, T. H. Pigford and H. W. Levi, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, NY, 1981.

Nuclear Fuel Management, H. W. Graves, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, 1979.

Goals:Provide an integrated survey of the nuclear fuel cycle, an understanding of the technologies employed and the related aspects of safety, economics, environmental effects and institutional safeguards.
Prerequisite by Topic:Reactor Physics
Topics:
  • Uranium mining and milling
  • Solvent extraction of metals
  • Uranium purification and conversion
  • Enrichment
  • Fuel fabrication
  • In-core fuel management
  • Isotope Buildup and depletion
  • Properties of irradiated fuels and reactor materials
  • Fuel reprocessing
  • Spent fuel radioactive waste management and disposal
  • Fuel disposal cycle economics
Computer Usage:Code assignments which model enrichment process and isotope buildup/depletion.
Grading Scheme:
  • Examinations
  • Homework
  • Computer assignments
  • Project