Talk:Nuclear engineering

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This article reads like a brochure, and excessively uses first-person pronouns to refer to nuclear engineers. Needs a major overhaul. Cleanup template added. - Forteblast 18:57, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 Cleanup process 2 Chunk of information 3 Phrasing on navel nuclear power school 4 Request for help on Aneutronic fusion

[edit] Cleanup process

I have begun a major cleanup of this article. I added a few parts to the introduction that were hanging in the middle of the article. I also broke a chunk of the mass of central text to make a section concerning university training. I am not finished with the university training section yet.

I made the remaining mass of central text invisible to readers but not to editors. I will later organize this text if no one else gets to it first.

I will also add a listing of premier undergraduate and graduate programs throughout the U.S. and the world. Help with adding programs outside of the U.S. would be great since i am not familiar with these (except for Canada). — oo64eva (Alex) ^{(U | T | C)} @ 00:55, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Great start Alex, and long overdue. DV8 2XL 00:56, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

I've put in a list format for US colleges, links to their departments, and degrees offered. It might take some time before I have enough of it to complete this list, so if any one wants to add to it, go for it. Also, I'm not sure lists will work better than tables would for this information. Any ideas on a better way of presenting this info? Lcolson

Someone reverted this saying it was linkspam, any thoughts? I'll wait to get some consensus before reverting, I don't think it was inappropriate. Below is what I had. Lcolson

• I think it should go back in, sans the empty columns. DV8 2XL 00:51, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

Looks good, I have no problem with it back in the article in its current form below. — oo64eva (Alex) ^{(U | T | C)} @ 19:36, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

Alright, I completed the list and put it back in the article. It should be mentioned that I took a liberal definition of nuclear engineering for the degrees offered list. Several schools offered BS degrees in other departments with a nuclear engineering option. Also, sometimes the degrees were titled somewhat differently, like instead of MS, they would be titled MSNE (master of science of nuclear engineering) or MSNRE (master of science of nuclear and radiological engineering) etc... I f I didn't find any information saying the department had a particular degree, I didn't put it in, so some degrees may have been missed inadvertantly.Lcolson 01:27, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Krich added in Electrician's Mates to the NNPS section. While they are, indeed, trained at NNPS, they shouldn't have been addes after ETs, since the length of their training falls between that of MMs and ETs. Since I'm currently on dialup, I won't try to find out just how long that was (I was an MM, so that part I remember well, and ETs were easy to remember - six months at each bend in the pipeline) until I get back. I'll leave it there until then, since EMs at least should be mentioned. Izuko 21:14, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chunk of information

Below is the big chunk of information that i removed from the main page. I don't see how giving a mini lecture on basic nuclear physics is of any help to the article but if anyone can find a place for this information give it a shot. — oo64eva (Alex) ^{(U | T | C)} @ 03:48, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

The nucleus is the center of the atom and can consist of neutrons and protons. The strong nuclear force is what keeps the nucleus bound together, while the weak nuclear force is responsible for certain types of radioactive decay. Just like the electrons in the atomic shell model, the nucleus exhibits quanta which also result in a nuclear shell model. That is, there are specific energy levels in the nucleus where certain reactions are likely to occur.

Radiation is anything which "radiates" away from the atom. We commonly classify the most common types as alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Alpha radiation consists of alpha particles which are basically just fully ionized helium nuclei. They contain 2 protons and 2 neutrons. Beta radiation consists of beta particles which are either an electron or a positron (the anti-matter equivalent of an electron). Gamma radiation is a very high energy photon.

Neutrons are most important in fission-based nuclear reactions since they are neutral and will not lose their energy except through collisions. The cross-section of the target nucleus is also vitally important.

Radiation existed long before nuclear engineers. We are surrounded by it owing to the fact that the solar system itself is the remnants of a much earlier star. The fusion reactions inside the star created all the elements in the periodic table (in nuclear engineering we use the Chart Of The Nuclides which takes into account all the isotopes) and most of these were radioactive. It is estimated that life took as long as it took to appear because the Earth had to 'cool off' radioactively. Also, our part of the galaxy is far enough away from the turbulent galactic center to avoid the frequent gamma ray bursts which would destroy life.

[edit] Phrasing on navel nuclear power school

"While some officers have undergraduate backgrounds in nuclear engineering, most have earned their undergraduate degrees in other engineering disciplines. Also, most of the enlisted students hold no college degrees at all."

How can most people both have degrees and not have degrees? Are officers not enlisted students? If there is a difference between enlisted men and officers, I think this needs to be pointed out. Lcolson 18:07, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

No, officers are not enlisted students, just like black isn't white. It's kind of in the very definition of officers and enlisted. Izuko 21:06, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

My bad, I didn't know the difference. I think the now linked words clarify this well.Lcolson 22:50, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Request for help on Aneutronic fusion

I am locked in a revert war with Elerner on Aneutronic_fusion#Residual_radiation_from_a_p-11B_reactor. See Talk:Aneutronic_fusion#Radiation_dose and Talk:Aneutronic_fusion#End of the road (bullet point Radioactivity). There are personality issues between us, but I think there is a substantial question of content as well. The issue is essentially whether the radiation problems of a p-B11 reactor are actually negligible or merely manageable. (Aren't edit wars silly?) Both of us have experience in plasma physics and fusion reactors, but have only dabbled in radiation assessment. (Although Lerner might characterize himself as an expert.) If someone from this page feels competent (and is interested in taking on a thankless and likely fruitless task), I would appreciate your input. --Art Carlson 09:47, 19 July 2006 (UTC)