Courses

NERS 211 (ENSCEN 211). Introduction to Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by Math 216. II (4 credits)
This course will discuss different forms of energy, the history of nuclear energy, the fundamentals of fission and fusion nuclear power, radiological health applications, and electromagnetic radiation in the environment. Current topics in the media such as radon, radioactive waste, and nuclear proliferation will also be covered.

NERS 250. Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by Math 216 and Physics 240 . II (4 credits)
Technological, industrial and medical applications of radiation, radioactive materials and fundamental particles. Special relativity, basic nuclear physics, interactions of radiation with matter. Fission reactors and the fuel cycle.

NERS 311. Elements of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences I
Prerequisite: NERS 250, Physics 240, preceded or accompanied by Math 454. I (3 credits)
Photons, electrons, neutrons, and protons. Particle and wave properties of radiation. Introduction to quantum mechanics. Properties and structure of atoms.

NERS 312. Elements of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences II
Prerequisite: NERS 311. II (3 credits)
Nuclear properties. Radioactive decay. Alpha-, beta-, and gamma- decays of nuclei. Nuclear fission and fusion. Radiation interactions and reaction cross-sections.

NERS 315. Nuclear Instrumentation Laboratory
Prerequisites: EECS 215 or EECS 314, preceded or accompanied by NERS 312. II (4 credits)
An introduction to the devices and techniques most common in nuclear measurements. Topics include the principles of operation of gas-filled, solid state, and scintillation detectors for charged particle, gamma ray, and neutron radiations. Techniques of pulse shaping, counting, and analysis for radiation spectroscopy. Timing and coincidence measurements.

NERS 421. Nuclear Engineering Materials
Prerequisites: MATSCIE220 or MATSCIE 250, NERS 312. I (3 credits)
An introduction to materials used in nuclear systems and radiation effects in materials (metals, ceramics, semiconductors, organics) due to neutrons, charged particles, electrons and photons.

NERS 425. Application of Radiation
Prerequisite: NERS 312. II (4 credits)
Applications of radiation interaction with matter using various forms (neutrons, ions, electrons, photons) of radiation, including activation analysis, neutron radiography, nuclear reaction analysis, Rutherford backscattering analysis, proton-induced x-ray emission, plasma-solid interactions and wave-solid interactions. Lectures and laboratory.

NERS 441. Nuclear Reactor Theory I
Prerequisite: NERS 312, Math 450. I (4 credits)
An introduction to the theory of nuclear fission reactors including neutron transport theory, the P1 approximation, diffusion theory, criticality calculations, reactor kinetics, neutron slowing down theory, and numerical solution of the diffusion equation.

NERS 442. Nuclear Power Reactors
Prerequisite: NERS 441, CEE 325 or MECHENG 320. II (4 credits)
Analysis of nuclear fission power systems including an introduction to nuclear reactor design, reactivity control, steady-state thermal-hydraulics and reactivity feedback, fuel cycle analysis and fuel management, environmental impact and plant siting, and transient analysis of nuclear systems. A semester-long design project of the student's choice.

NERS 462. Reactor Safety Analysis
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by NERS 441. I (3 credits) 
Analysis of those design and operational features of nuclear reactor systems that are relevant to safety. Reactor containment, engineered safety features, transient behavior and accident analysis for representative reactor types. NRC regulations and procedures. Typical reactor safety analyses.

NERS 471. Introduction to Plasmas
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by Physics 240 or equivalent. I (3 credits)
Single particle orbits in electric and magnetic fields, moments of Boltzmann equation and introduction to fluid theory. Wave phenomena in plasmas. Diffusion of plasma in electric and magnetic fields. Analysis of laboratory plasmas and magnetic confinement devices. Introduction to plasma kinetic theory.

NERS 472. Fusion Reactor Technology
Prerequisite: NERS 471. II (3 credits)
Study of technological topics relevant to the engineering feasibility of fusion reactors as power sources. Basic magnetic fusion and inertial fusion reactor design. Problems of plasma confinement. Energy and particle balances  in fusion reactors, neutronics and tritium breeding, and environmental aspects. Engineering considerations for ITER and NIF.

NERS 481. (BIOMEDE 481) Engineering Principles of Radiation Imaging
II (2 credits) 
Analytic description of radiation production, transport and detection in radiation imaging systems. Measurements methods for image quality and statistical performance of observers. Systems for radiographic and radioisotope imaging, including film/screen, storage phosphor, and electronic radiography, fluoroscopy, computed tomography, Anger camera, and PET systems. Emphasis on impact of random process on observer detection.

NERS 484. (BIOMEDE 484, ENSCEN 484) Radiological Health Engineering Fundamentals
Prerequisite: NERS 312 or equivalent or permission of instructor. I (4 credits)
Fundamental physics behind radiological health engineering and topics in quantitative radiation protection. Radiation quantities and measurement, regulations and enforcement, external and internal dose estimation, radiation biology, radioactive waste issues, radon gas, emergencies, and wide variety of radiation sources from health physics perspective.

NERS 490. Special Topics in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. (to be arranged)
Selected topics offered at the senior or first-year graduate level. The subject matter may change from term to term.

NERS 499. Research in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. (1-3 credits)
Individual or group research in a field of interest to the student under the direction of a faculty member of the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences department.

NERS 511. Quantum Mechanics in Neutron-Nuclear Reactions
Prerequisite: NERS 312, Math 450. II (3 credits)
An introduction to quantum mechanics with applications to nuclear science and nuclear engineering. Topics covered include the Schroedinger equation and neutron-wave equations, neutron absorption, neutron scattering, details of neutron-nuclear reactions, cross sections, the Breit-Wigner formula, neutron diffraction, nuclear fission, transuranic elements, the deuteron problem, masers, and lasers.

NERS 512. Interaction of Radiation and Matter
Prerequisite: NERS 511. II (3 credits)
Classical and quantum-mechanical analysis of the processes by which radiation interacts with matter. Review of nuclear structure and properties. Nuclear models. Nuclei as sources of radiation. Interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter. Interaction of charged particles with matter. Radiative collisions and theory of Bremsstrahlung. Interaction of neutrons with matter. Interaction mechanisms and cross sections are developed.

NERS 515. Nuclear Measurements Laboratory
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. I (4 credits)
Principles of nuclear radiation detectors and their use in radiation instrumentation systems. Characteristics of important devices with applications in nuclear science. Gamma ray spectroscopy, fast and thermal neutron detection, charged particle measurements, pulse analysis, nuclear event timing, and recent development in nuclear instrumentation.

NERS 518. Advanced Radiation Measurements and Imaging
Prerequisite: NERS 315 or NERS 515. I alternate years (2 credits)
Detection and imaging of ionizing radiation that builds on a basic course in radiation measurements. Topics include statistical limits on energy and spatial resolution, analog and digital pulse processing, pulse shape analysis and discrimination, position sensing techniques, application of Ramo theorem for calculating induced charge, and the use of statistical methods in data analysis. Specific devices used as examples of evolving technology include newly-developed scintillators and wave-shifters, optical sensors, gas-filled imaging and spectroscopic detectors, semiconductor spectrometers from wide bandgap materials, gamma ray/neutron imaging systems, and cryogenic spectrometers.

NERS 521. Radiation Effects in Nuclear Materials
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. I (3 credits)
Radiation effects in crystalline solids; defect production, spike phenomena, displacement cascades, interatomic potentials, channeling, focusing, slowing down. Radiation effects on mechanical behavior of reactor components; creep, hardening, fracture, fatigue. Applications to pressure vessel steels, in-core components, and fusion reactor wall materials.

NERS 522. Nuclear Fuels
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. II alternate years (3 credits)
Nuclear reactor fuels and the fuel cycle; mining, processing, isotope separation and fabrication. Fuel/clad behavior; radiation damage, thermal response, densification, swelling, fission gas release, burnup, clad corrosion, design and modeling. Spent fuel; characterization, performance, reprocessing, disposal.

NERS 531 (ENSCEN 531). Nuclear Waste Management
Prerequisite: Senior Standing. II (3 credits)
Based on the nuclear fuel cycle, this course will review the origin, composition, form and volumes of waste generated by commercial reactors and defense programs. The scientific and engineering basis for near-field and far-field containment in a geologic repository will be reviewed in the context of performance assessment methodologies.

NERS 543. Nuclear Reactor Theory II
Prerequisite: NERS 441 or equivalent. I (3 credits)
A continuation of NERS 441 including neutron resonance absorption and thermalization, perturbation and variational methods, flux synthesis. Analytic and numerical solutions of the neutron transport equation including the S_n and B methods, collision probabilities and Monte Carlo methods.

NERS 551. Nuclear Reactor Kinetics
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by NERS 441. II (3 credits)
Derivation and solution of point reactor kinetic equations. Concept of reactivity, inhour equations and reactor transfer function. Linear stability analysis of reactors. Reactivity feedback and nonlinear kinetics. Space-dependent reactor kinetics and xenon oscillations. Introduction to reactor noise analysis.

NERS 554. Radiation Shielding
Prerequisite: NERS 441 or NERS 484. II (4 credits)
The design of radiation shields, including neutrons, photons and charged particles. Dosimetric quantities, detector response functions, materials selection, and energy deposition in shields. Techniques for dose estimation including buildup factors, neutron removal cross-sections and Monte Carlo.

NERS 561. Nuclear Core Design and Analysis I
Prerequisite: NERS 441. II (3 credits)
Analytical investigation of areas of special importance to the design of nuclear reactors. Includes development, evaluation, and application of models for the neutronic, thermal-hydraulic, and economic behavior of both thermal and fast reactors. Typical problems arising in both design and operation of nuclear reactors are considered. This course includes extensive use of digital computers.

NERS 562. Nuclear Core Design and Analysis II
Prerequisite: NERS 561. IIIa (3 credits)
Continuation of subject matter covered under NERS 561 with emphasis on applications of analytical models to the solution of current problems in reactor technology.

NERS 571. Intermediate Plasma Physics I
Prerequisite: NERS 471 or Physics 405. I (3 credits)
Single particle motion, collision, and transport; plasma stability from orbital considerations; Vlasov and Liouville equations; Landau damping; kinetic modes and their reconstruction from fluid description; electrostatic and electromagnetic waves, cutoff and resonance.

NERS 572. (Appl Phys 672) Intermediate Plasma Physics II
Prerequisite: NERS 571. II (3 credits)
Waves in non-uniform plasmas, magnetic shear; absorption, reflection, and tunneling gradient-driven micro-instabilities; BGK mode and nonlinear Landau damping; macroscopic instabilities and their stabilization; non-ideal MHD effects.

NERS 575 (EECS 519). Plasma Generation and Diagnostics Laboratory
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by a course covering electromagnetism. II (4 credits)
Laboratory techniques for plasma ionization and diagnosis relevant to plasma processing, propulsion, vacuum electronics, and fusion. Plasma generation techniques includes: high voltage-DC, radio frequency, and e-beam discharges. Diagnostics include: Langmuir probes, microwave cavity perturbation, microwave interferometry, laser schlieren, and optical emission spectroscopy. Plasma parameters measured are: electron/ion density and electron temperature.

NERS 576. Charged Particle Accelerators and Beams
Prerequisite: Physics 240 or EECS 331. I alternate years. (3 credits)
Principles and technology of electrostatic and electrodynamic accelerators, magnetic and electrostatic focusing, transient analysis of pulsed accelerators. Generation of intense electron and ion beams. Dynamics, stability, and beam transport in vacuum, neutral and ionized gases. Intense beams as drivers for inertial confinement and for high power coherent radiation.

NERS 577. Plasma Spectroscopy
Prerequisite: introductory courses in plasma and quantum mechanics. I alternate years (3 credits)
Basic theory of atomic and molecular spectroscopy and its application to plasma diagnostics. Atomic structure and resulting spectra, electronic (including vibrational and rotational) structure of molecules and the resulting spectra, the absorption and emission of radiation and the shape and width of spectral lines. Use of atomic and molecular spectra as a means of diagnosing temperatures, densities and the chemistry of plasmas.

NERS 578 (EECS 517). Physical Processes in Plasmas
Prerequisites: EECS 330. II even years (3 credits)
Plasma physics applied to electrical gas discharges used for material processing. Gas kinetics; atomic collisions; transport coefficients; drift and diffusion; sheaths; Boltzmann distribution function calculation; plasma simulation; plasma diagnostics by particle probes, spectroscopy, and electromagnetic waves; analysis of commonly used plasma tools for materials processing.

NERS 579 (EHS 692). Physics of Diagnostic Radiology
Prerequisite: NERS 484 or Graduate Status. II, IIIa (3 credits)
Physics, equipment and techniques basics to producing medical diagnostic images by x-rays, fluoroscopy, computerized tomography of x-ray images, mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging systems. Lectures and demonstrations.

NERS 580 (BIOMEDE 580). Computation Projects in Radiation Imaging
Prerequisite: preceded or accompanied by NERS 481 II (1 credit)
Computational projects illustrate principles of radiation imaging from NERS 481 (BiomedE 481). Students will model the performance of radiation systems as a function of design variables. Results will be in the form of computer displayed images. Students will evaluate results using observer experiments. Series of weekly projects are integrated to describe the performance of imaging systems.

NERS 582 (BIOMEDE 582). Medical Radiological Health Engineering
Prerequisite: NERS 484 (BIOMEDE 484) or Graduate Status. II (3 credits)
This course covers the fundamental approaches to radiation protection in radiology, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, and research environments at medical facilities. Topics presented include health effects, radiation dosimetry and dose estimation, quality control of imaging equipment, regulations, licensing, and health physics program design.

NERS 583. Applied Radiation Dose Assessment
Prerequisite: NERS 484 or Graduate Status. II (4 credit)
Principles and methods of protection against radiation hazards. Occupation, environmental, and medical aspects included. Internal and external dose assessment, dosimetry, health effects, and personnel and patient protection. Special health and medical physics computational techniques and problems .

NERS 585 Transportation of Radioactive Materials
Prerequisite: Junior status in engineering. Senior or graduate status in any field
Analysis of risks and consequences of routine transportation of radioactive materials and of transportation accidents involving these materials; history and review of regulations governing radioactive materials, overview of packaging design and vulnerabilities, and current issues and concerns involving radioactive materials transportations. Essays and quantitative analysis both included.

NERS 586 Applied Radiological Measurements
Prerequisite: NERS 484, NERS 515 or equivalent
Instrumentation and applied measurements of interest for radiation safety, environmental sciences, and medical physics. Dosimeters, radon gas, in situ gamma ray spectroscopy, skin dose, bioassay, internal dose evaluation, alpha detection, applied instrumentation, and other selected medical physics and health measurements. Includes analytical modeling and computer simulation for comparison with several physical experiments. Lectures and laboratory .

NERS 587. Internal Radiation Dose Assessment
Prerequisite: NERS 484 or Graduate Status. II (3 credits)
Determination of radiation doses due to internal deposition of radioactive materials in the human body. Intake and deposition models of radioactive materials via inhalation or oral ingestion with particular emphasis on internationally accepted models for lungs, GI tract, and bone. Concepts of Annual Limit of Intake to meet risk based standards. Derive Air Concentrations, submersion exposure, retention models, and bioassay principles for determining intake and retention of radionuclides. Lectures and problem sessions.

NERS 588. Radiation Safety and Medical Physics Practicum
Prerequisite: permission of instructor; mandatory satisfactory/ unsatisfactory. I, II, III, IIIa, IIIb (1-12 credits)
Individuals intern at a medical or industrial facility. Students concentrate on a specific radiological health engineering problem and participate in broader facility activities. Assignments are arranged by agreement among the student, faculty member, and facility personnel. This course may be repeated for up to 12 credit hours.

NERS 590. Special Topics in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences II
Prerequisite: permission of instructor. (to be arranged)
Selected advanced topics such as neutron and reactor physics, reactor core design, and reactor engineering. The subject matter will change from term to term.

NERS 599. Master's Project
Prerequisite: permission of instructor I, II, III, and IIIa or IIIb (1-3 credits)
Individual or group investigations in a particular field or on a problem of special interest to the student. The course content will be arranged at the beginning of each term by mutual agreement between the student and a staff member. This course may be repeated for up to 6 credit hours.

NERS 621 (MATSCIE 621). Nuclear Waste Forms
Prerequisites: NERS 531 (recommended). I even years (3 credits)
This interdisciplinary course will review the materials science of radioactive waste remediation and disposal strategies. The main focus will be on corrosion mechanisms, radiation effects, and the long-term durability of glasses and crystalline ceramics proposed for the immobilization and disposal of nuclear waste.

NERS 622 (MFG 622) (MATSCIE 622). Ion Beam Modification and Analysis of Materials
Prerequisite: NERS 421, NERS 521 or MATSCIE 351 or permission of instructor. II alternate years (3 credits)
Ion-solid interactions, ion beam mixing, compositional changes, phase changes, micro-structural changes; alteration of physical and mechanical properties such as corrosion, wear, fatigue, hardness; ion beam analysis techniques such as RBS, NRA, PIXE, ion channeling, ion microprobe; accelerator system design and operation as it relates to implantation and analysis.

NERS 644. Transport Theory
Prerequisite: Math 555. I (3 credits)
Mathematical study of linear transport equations with particular application to neutron transport, plasma physics, photon transport, electron conduction in solids, and rarefied gas dynamics; one-speed transport theory; Wiener-Hopf and singular eigen function methods; time-dependent transport processes; numerical methods including spherical harmonics, discrete ordinates, and Monte Carlo techniques; non-linear transport phenomena.

NERS 671. Theory of Plasma Confinement in Fusion Systems I
Prerequisite: NERS 572. I alternate years (3 credits)
Study of the equilibrium, stability, and transport of plasma in controlled fusion devices. Topics include MHD equilibrium for circular and non-circular cross section plasmas; magneto-hydrodynamic and micro-instabilities; classical and anomalous diffusion of particles and energy, and scaling laws.

NERS 672. Theory of Plasma Confinement in Fusion Systems II
Prerequisite: NERS 671. II alternate years (3 credits)
Study of the equilibrium, stability, and transport of plasma in controlled fusion devices. Topics include MHD equilibrium for circular and non-circular cross section plasmas; magneto-hydrodynamic and micro-instabilities; classical and anomalous diffusion of particles and energy, and scaling laws.

NERS 673. Electrons and Coherent Radiation
Prerequisite: NERS 471 or Physics 405. II (3 credits)
Collective interactions between electrons and surrounding structure studied. Emphasis given to generation of high power coherent microwave and millimeter waves. Devices include: cyclotron resonance maser, free electron laser, peniotron, orbitron, relativistic klystron, and crossed-field geometry. Interactions between electron beam and wakefields analyzed.

NERS 674 (Appl Phys 674). High Intensity Laser-Plasma Interactions
Prerequisite: NERS 471, NERS 571 or permission of instructor. I (3 credits)
Coupling of intense electromagnetic radiation to electrons and collective modes in time-dependent and equilibrium plasmas, ranging from underdense to solid-density. Theory, numerical models and experiments in laser fusion, x-ray lasers, novel electron accelerators and nonlinear optics.

NERS 799. Special Projects 
(1-6 credits)
Individual or group investigations in a particular field or on a problem of special interest to the student. The project will be arranged at the beginning of the term by mutual agreement between the student and a staff member.

NERS 990. Dissertation/Pre-Candidate
Prerequisite: I, II, III (2-8 credits); IIIa, IIIb (1-4 credits)
Dissertation work by doctoral student not yet admitted to status as candidate. The defense of the dissertation, that is, the final oral examination, must be held under a full-term candidacy enrollment.

NERS 995. Dissertation/Candidate
Prerequisite: Graduate School authorization for admission as a doctoral candidate I, II, III (8 credits); IIIa, IIIb (4 credits)
Election for dissertation work by a doctoral student who has been admitted to candidate status. The defense of the dissertation, that is, the final oral examination, must be held under a full-term candidacy enrollment.