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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 440 nuclear reactors in 32 countries generate 10 percent of the world's energy through nuclear fission. [3] In the future, it is expected that nuclear fusion will add another nuclear means of generating energy. [4] Both reactions make use of the nuclear binding energy released when atomic nucleons are either separated (fission) or brought together (fusion). The energy available is given by the binding 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 engineers work in such areas as the following: [7] [8] [9]
Many chemical, electrical and mechanical 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. Including secondary sector jobs, the number of people supported by the U.S. nuclear industry is 475,000. [15]
Nuclear engineering was born in 1938, with the discovery of nuclear fission. [16] The first artificial nuclear reactor, CP-1, was designed by a team of physicists who were concerned that Nazi Germany might also be seeking to build a bomb based on nuclear fission. (The earliest known nuclear reaction on Earth occurred naturally, 1.7 billion years ago, in Oklo, Gabon, Africa.) The second artificial nuclear reactor, the X-10 Graphite Reactor, was also a part of the Manhattan Project, as were the plutonium-producing reactors of the Hanford Engineer Works. The first nuclear bomb was code named Gadget [17] which was used in the Trinity Nuclear Test. [18] The weapon was believed to have a yield of around 20 kilotons of TNT.
The first nuclear reactor to generate electricity was Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I), which did so near Arco, Idaho, in 1951. [19] EBR-I was a standalone facility, not connected to a grid, but a later Idaho research reactor in the BORAX 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 the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, which began operation in 1954. The second appears to be the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, which produced electricity in 1957.
For a brief chronology, from the discovery of uranium to the current era, see Outline History of Nuclear Energy or History of Nuclear Power.
See List of Commercial Nuclear Reactors for a comprehensive listing of nuclear power reactors and IAEA Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) for worldwide and country-level statistics on nuclear power generation.
In the United States, nuclear engineers are employed as follows: [20]
Worldwide, job prospects for nuclear engineers are likely best in those countries that are active in or exploring nuclear technologies[ citation needed ]:
Organizations that provide study and training in nuclear engineering include the following:
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid, which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of weapons-grade plutonium. As of 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency reports there are 422 nuclear power reactors and 223 nuclear research reactors in operation around the world.
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Generating electricity from fusion power remains the focus of international research.
A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity. As of September 2023, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported there were 410 nuclear power reactors in operation in 32 countries around the world, and 57 nuclear power reactors under construction.
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process similar to that of the Sun. Upon completion of construction of the main reactor and first plasma, planned for late 2025, it will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. It is being built next to the Cadarache facility in southern France. ITER will be the largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s, with ten times the plasma volume of any other tokamak operating today.
Rosatom, also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that specializes in nuclear energy, nuclear non-energy goods and high-tech products. It was established in 2007 and comprises more than 350 enterprises, including scientific research organizations, a nuclear weapons complex, and the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet.
Nuclear energy policy is a national and international policy concerning some or all aspects of nuclear energy and the nuclear fuel cycle, such as uranium mining, ore concentration, conversion, enrichment for nuclear fuel, generating electricity by nuclear power, storing and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, and disposal of radioactive waste. Nuclear energy policies often include the regulation of energy use and standards relating to the nuclear fuel cycle. Other measures include efficiency standards, safety regulations, emission standards, fiscal policies, and legislation on energy trading, transport of nuclear waste and contaminated materials, and their storage. Governments might subsidize nuclear energy and arrange international treaties and trade agreements about the import and export of nuclear technology, electricity, nuclear waste, and uranium.
DEMO, or a demonstration power plant, refers to a proposed class of nuclear fusion experimental reactors that are intended to demonstrate the net production of electric power from nuclear fusion. Most of the ITER partners have plans for their own DEMO-class reactors. With the possible exception of the EU and Japan, there are no plans for international collaboration as there was with ITER.
Nuclear safety is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The achievement of proper operating conditions, prevention of accidents or mitigation of accident consequences, resulting in protection of workers, the public and the environment from undue radiation hazards". The IAEA defines nuclear security as "The prevention and detection of and response to, theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear materials, other radioactive substances or their associated facilities".
The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant is a large commercial nuclear power plant located at the Paradise Point in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
The Chashma Nuclear Power Plant is a large commercial nuclear power plant located at Chashma in Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan.
Nuclear power is a major power source in South Korea, providing 29% of the country's electricity. The total electrical generation capacity of the nuclear power plants of South Korea is 20.5 GWe from 23 reactors, equivalent to 22% of South Korea's total electrical generation capacity.
Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant was built in the "Science City" of Obninsk, Kaluga Oblast, about 110 km (68 mi) southwest of Moscow, Soviet Union. Connected to the power grid in June 1954, Obninsk was the first grid-connected nuclear power plant in the world, i.e. the first nuclear reactor that produced electricity industrially, albeit at small scale. It was located at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering. The plant is also known as APS-1 Obninsk. It remained in operation between 1954 and 2002. Its production of electricity for the grid ceased in 2002; thereafter it functioned as a research and isotope production plant only.
China is one of the world's largest producers of nuclear power. The country ranks third in the world both in total nuclear power capacity installed and electricity generated, accounting for around one tenth of global nuclear power generated. As of February 2023, China has 55 plants with 57GW in operation, 22 under construction with 24 GW and more than 70 planned with 88GW. About 5% of electricity in the country is due to nuclear energy. These plants generated 417 TWh of electricity in 2022 This is versus the September 2022 numbers of 53 nuclear reactors, with a total capacity of 55.6 gigawatt (GW). In 2019, nuclear power had contributed 4.9% of the total Chinese electricity production, with 348.1 TWh.
Ansar Pervaiz, also spelled as, HI, is a Pakistani scientist and a nuclear engineer who was the former chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), and former chairman of the Board of Governors of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Pervaiz is widely given credit for establishing the nuclear engineering, nuclear physics and nuclear technology institutes within Pakistan.
The Single Electricity Market encompassing the entire island of Ireland does not, and has never, produced any electricity from nuclear power stations. The production of electricity for the Irish national grid (Eirgrid), by nuclear fission, is prohibited in the Republic of Ireland by the Electricity Regulation Act, 1999 . The enforcement of this law is only possible within the borders of Ireland, and it does not prohibit consumption. Since 2001 in Northern Ireland and 2012 in the Republic, the grid has become increasingly interconnected with the neighbouring electric grid of Britain, and therefore Ireland is now partly powered by overseas nuclear fission stations.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to nuclear power:
This is a history of nuclear power as realized through the first artificial fission of atoms that would lead to the Manhattan Project and, eventually, to using nuclear fission to generate electricity.
The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor, or CFETR, is a proposed tokamak fusion reactor, which uses a magnetic field in order to confine plasma and generate energy. As of 2015, tokamak devices are leading candidates for the construction of a viable and practical thermonuclear fusion reactor. These reactors may be used to generate sustainable energy whilst ensuring a low environmental impact and a smaller carbon footprint than fossil fuel-based power plants.
The IPHWR-700 is an Indian pressurized heavy-water reactor designed by the NPCIL. It is a Generation III reactor developed from earlier CANDU based 220 MW and 540 MW designs. It can generate 700 MW of electricity. Currently there is two unit operational, 6 units under construction and 8 more units planned, at a cost of ₹1.05 lakh crore (US$13 billion).
The Fusion Pilot Plant is a program initiated in 2021 by the United States Department of Energy to construct a pilot plant capable of producing net electrical fusion power by the 2030s. In September 2022, $50 million was earmarked by the Department of Energy for development of a pilot fusion power plant. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine was involved in kicking off the program and advised it become a United States public-private partnership.