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Reactor engineering is a type of nuclear engineering and requires a great deal of preparation to undertake as a career. However, when the right amount of effort is put into becoming this type of engineer, the career can be rewarding and stimulating and can offer numerous options for advancement. High school students who are considering this career should maintain high scores in math and science. A bachelor’s degree is necessary to get even an entry level position in this field; oftentimes a master’s degree is needed as well.
The degree is usually in nuclear engineering with an emphasis on reactor engineering. However, some reactor engineers begin with a mechanical engineering or chemical engineering degree.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also strongly suggests that reactor engineers become licensed through their states. After obtaining a degree, it is wise to search for an entry‑level position. Once the individual has a position in a reputable company, he or she can advance through the levels to management if they desire. However, it does take quite a while to train into any reactor engineering job. Training includes working with experienced engineers in the company as well as attending on‑the‑job lectures and classes. This job will include working with nuclear reactors while using computers and mathematical principles.
The engineer will also make repairs to reactors and make sure that they have the fuel that they need. Usually these reactors are used for nuclear power. Although the preparation to be a reactor engineer is extensive, the time spent in training is well worth it. This article will describe some of the steps through which you should go if you want to pursue this career.
Preparation A student must study a number of basic subjects before delving more deeply into the field of nuclear energy. This means taking as many courses in mathematics, physics and chemistry as possible, even when in high school.
College and university programs The courses described in this section were taken from those schools that were rated by U.S. News and World Report as having the best nuclear engineering programs in the country. The name of the institution where each course is offered is given along with its description.
Course 22 (MIT): Includes Fission and Fusion Energy, Nuclear Security and Policy, and Nuclear Materials. Engineering of Nuclear Systems (22.06) taught in the fall, is the course that relates most directly to the job of a reactor engineer. It covers the design of a nuclear power plant using the basics of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid flow and reactor physics.
Nuclear Reactor Theory I (University of Michigan): Topics include materials used in nuclear reactors and effects that radiation has on various materials. Fusion Reactor Technology course is also part of the curriculum.
Nuclear Reactor Engineering (College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin‑Madison): Generating and removing heat in and from the reactor; core thermal design, liquid cooling, steady‑ and unsteady‑state conduction.
Nuclear Reactor Dynamics (University of Wisconsin‑Madison): Basic equations and physical parameters of point reactor kinetics without feedback effects; also teaches methods of synthesis.
Nuclear Reactor Theory II, Nuclear Reactor Kinetics, Nuclear Core Design and Analysis 1 (University of Michigan)
Nuclear Reactor Theory, Reactor Analysis and Experimentation, Design of Nuclear Reactors (Texas A & M University)
In the navy Large numbers of reactor engineers are employed by the U.S. Navy. This job is the most selective service in that branch of the armed forces; only ten to fifteen are actually accepted in any given year. Having been accepted, the student has to maintain a GPA of at least 3.7 out of 4. The nuclear engineer programs through which a reactor engineer is put are the same as those for any other nuclear option officer except that after the program has been completed, the student goes to the Naval Reactors headquarters in Washington, D.C. instead of to a ship or a submarine.
At the Naval Reactors headquarters the engineer‑in‑training works in tandem with licensed engineers in doing research and making designs for the upcoming line of reactors for carriers and the “Silent Service” (an unofficial name given to the United States Pacific Fleet). In addition to a high GPA, one of the requirements for a reactor engineer training program is a degree in nuclear, electrical, mechanical or some other branch of engineering.
Duties performed by a reactor engineer A reactor engineer has a highly skilled job which consequently pays a high salary. He or she runs tests and monitors nuclear reactors to ensure that (1) they do not exceed the technological specifications of the companies for which they have been made and (2) in the event of a plant emergency, all the emergency equipment will respond the way in which it is supposed to respond. He also makes sure that the core of the reactor is burning in the desired manner, tracks and makes reports on whatever nuclear materials are kept on the work site, draws up paperwork that tells the maintenance crew where to move each container of fuel and in what order to move them, does inspections on nuclear fuel and writes a set of procedures that govern the way everything in a nuclear power plant is supposed to be utilized.
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The degree is usually in nuclear engineering with an emphasis on reactor engineering. However, some reactor engineers begin with a mechanical engineering or chemical engineering degree.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also strongly suggests that reactor engineers become licensed through their states. After obtaining a degree, it is wise to search for an entry‑level position. Once the individual has a position in a reputable company, he or she can advance through the levels to management if they desire. However, it does take quite a while to train into any reactor engineering job. Training includes working with experienced engineers in the company as well as attending on‑the‑job lectures and classes. This job will include working with nuclear reactors while using computers and mathematical principles.
The engineer will also make repairs to reactors and make sure that they have the fuel that they need. Usually these reactors are used for nuclear power. Although the preparation to be a reactor engineer is extensive, the time spent in training is well worth it. This article will describe some of the steps through which you should go if you want to pursue this career.
Preparation A student must study a number of basic subjects before delving more deeply into the field of nuclear energy. This means taking as many courses in mathematics, physics and chemistry as possible, even when in high school.
College and university programs The courses described in this section were taken from those schools that were rated by U.S. News and World Report as having the best nuclear engineering programs in the country. The name of the institution where each course is offered is given along with its description.
Course 22 (MIT): Includes Fission and Fusion Energy, Nuclear Security and Policy, and Nuclear Materials. Engineering of Nuclear Systems (22.06) taught in the fall, is the course that relates most directly to the job of a reactor engineer. It covers the design of a nuclear power plant using the basics of thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid flow and reactor physics.
Nuclear Reactor Theory I (University of Michigan): Topics include materials used in nuclear reactors and effects that radiation has on various materials. Fusion Reactor Technology course is also part of the curriculum.
Nuclear Reactor Engineering (College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin‑Madison): Generating and removing heat in and from the reactor; core thermal design, liquid cooling, steady‑ and unsteady‑state conduction.
Nuclear Reactor Dynamics (University of Wisconsin‑Madison): Basic equations and physical parameters of point reactor kinetics without feedback effects; also teaches methods of synthesis.
Nuclear Reactor Theory II, Nuclear Reactor Kinetics, Nuclear Core Design and Analysis 1 (University of Michigan)
Nuclear Reactor Theory, Reactor Analysis and Experimentation, Design of Nuclear Reactors (Texas A & M University)
In the navy Large numbers of reactor engineers are employed by the U.S. Navy. This job is the most selective service in that branch of the armed forces; only ten to fifteen are actually accepted in any given year. Having been accepted, the student has to maintain a GPA of at least 3.7 out of 4. The nuclear engineer programs through which a reactor engineer is put are the same as those for any other nuclear option officer except that after the program has been completed, the student goes to the Naval Reactors headquarters in Washington, D.C. instead of to a ship or a submarine.
At the Naval Reactors headquarters the engineer‑in‑training works in tandem with licensed engineers in doing research and making designs for the upcoming line of reactors for carriers and the “Silent Service” (an unofficial name given to the United States Pacific Fleet). In addition to a high GPA, one of the requirements for a reactor engineer training program is a degree in nuclear, electrical, mechanical or some other branch of engineering.
Duties performed by a reactor engineer A reactor engineer has a highly skilled job which consequently pays a high salary. He or she runs tests and monitors nuclear reactors to ensure that (1) they do not exceed the technological specifications of the companies for which they have been made and (2) in the event of a plant emergency, all the emergency equipment will respond the way in which it is supposed to respond. He also makes sure that the core of the reactor is burning in the desired manner, tracks and makes reports on whatever nuclear materials are kept on the work site, draws up paperwork that tells the maintenance crew where to move each container of fuel and in what order to move them, does inspections on nuclear fuel and writes a set of procedures that govern the way everything in a nuclear power plant is supposed to be utilized.
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