Students should enter this course with the ability to write mass, momentum and energy balances (from Thermodynamics, ME 361). It is also important for students to recognize dimensionless groups and be able to use heat transfer correlations.

Required Text:

M. M. El-Wakil, "Nuclear Heat Transport."

Reference:

N.E. Todreas, M.S. Kazimi, "Nuclear Systems", Hemisphere Publishing

M.L. Corradini, "Multiphase Flow: Gas-Liquid, WINS Website

R.Bird, W.Stewart, E.Lightfoot, "Transport Phenomena", Wiley & Sons

F. J. Moody and R. T. Lahey, "The Thermal Hydraulics of a Boiling Water Reactor"

Course Objectives: It is the instructor's intention to...

demonstrate how the defense-in-depth philosophy manifests itself in different aspects of reactor design.

give students calculational tools needed to ensure a given system meets safety limits.

introduce students to "next-generation" designs of LWRs that have built upon lessons learned with the previous/current generation of reactors.

Course Outcomes: Students must be able to...

solve steady heat conduction problems beginning from the differential form of the conduction equation.

discuss the implications of reactor-specific parameters (fuel thermal conductivity, gap conductance) on fuel centerline temperature.

estimate the stress induced in structural components from temperature gradients arising from heat conduction.

discuss reactor-specific issues involving such stresses (pressurized thermal shock).

calculate dimensionless quantities appropriate to heat transfer calculations in nuclear reactors (Nu, Re, Pr, Gr).

find heat transfer coefficients given forced or natural convection conditions.

use CHF correlations to determine if a particular reactor assembly channel is too hot.

perform mass, momentum and energy balances on different reactor components, determining thermodynamic states within closed flow loops.

describe the major safety issues associated with light water reactors, as well as the principal differences between "next-generation" and current generation light water reactors.

This is a traditional lecture-style class that meets three times a week for standard 50 minute lectures.

The following statement indicates which of the following considerations are included in this course: economic, environmental, ethical, political, societal, health and safety, manufacturability, sustainability.

Even though students do not design reactors in this course, the fundamental subjects underlying the course (heat transfer, fluid flow, structural mechanics) are woven through the defense-in-depth philosophy, culminating in the last two-three weeks in presentations of "next-generation" reactor designs. Students are thereby exposed to new reactor designs and the reasoning behind design changes from present to next generation plants.

Along the same lines, there is a nearly continuous discussion of safety issues throughout the semester, as these underly the defense-in-depth philosophy.

NE 411 is focused to satisfy the NE educational objectives by providing an education in a fundamental area (nuclear reactor engineering) important for a career in nuclear power engineering via problem-solving, projects and reports. It does not provide the students with direct design experience, but discussion of design issues arises in contrasting advanced reactor designs with current designs. Prospects for acceptance of and new construction also necessitates discussion of environmental and contemporary issues.