General Information

For undergraduate students interested in nuclear energy. Topics are presented at the level of the course text: Lamarsh and Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 4th ed.

Prerequisites

PHYS 2214 and MATH 2940

Topics Covered

  • Fundamentals of nuclear science and engineering
  • Nuclear structure, radioactivity, and reactions
  • Interaction of radiation with matter
  • Radiation protection and shielding
  • The neutron chain reaction and its control
  • Light water reactors, isotope separation, fuel reprocessing, and waste disposal
  • Heat transfer, accidents, atmospheric dispersion
  • Reactor licensing and safety

Workload

  • Fairly light, one pset a week with several extra credit problems for undergrads, two prelims and a final, one final paper[FALL 2023]

General Advice

  • Go to office hour, do extra credit on homework and understand the homework problems and reading

Testimonials

Overall good course. Lecture generally follows textbook and was usually a bit behind the homework. The content is interesting but much of the work is finding the right tables, values, formulae, etc. Professor Hammer is great and makes time to meet for office hours and any other needed time. Final paper was 10 pages but can include figures in page count (reasonably of course) and was on topic of choice as long as it was somehow related to nuclear science. Cheat sheets were allowed for prelims. [FALL 2023]

Past Offerings

Semester Professor Median Grade Syllabus