NPRE 453

Engineering at Illinois Engineering at Illinois

Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering

NPRE 453

COURSE OUTLINE

Course Number: NPRE 453

Title:Nuclear Reactor Laboratory

Catalogue Description: Laboratory experiments relating to nuclear reactor physics and fission reactor operations, conducted in small groups, including: reactor instrumentation, flux and power measurements, start-up procedures, reactivity worth measures, reactor period, and control rod calibration experiments, and measurements in subcritical, critical and supercritical systems.

Course Topics and Hours
Principle Topics Covered Hours (Lecture/Lab)
Approach to Critical 1 week
Neutron Multiplication
  
Generation Time
  
Control Rod Calibration 2 weeks
Reactor periods, Reactivity worth
  
Integral and Differential Rod Worths
  
Power calibration 1 week
Isothermal Heat Balance
  
Quasi-Adiabatic Heat Balance
  
Small and Large Reactivity Insertions 2 weeks
Fuchs-Nordheim model
  
Geometric bucking measurement 1 week
Thermal Utilization and Fermi Age 1 week
Burn-up and Fission Product Poisoning 2 weeks
Special Topics Substitute for any 2 week section
Total 10 weeks

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Note: Each week consists of 2 hours lectures and 1 four hour lab

Basic Texts:Laboratory handouts

Prerequisites:NPRE 451.

Purpose of Course:

  • Nuclear Engineering majors must take 2 hours of specialized laboratory.
  • This course will count as a NPRE restrictive group and a technical elective for other majors in the college of engineering
  • This course will familiarize students with the principles of fission reactor operations and measurements of basic parameters important in fission reactor statics and dynamics. These areas of expertise are essential to students who will enter careers in nuclear power reactor operations, or advanced study of fission reactor systems.

Instructor: James F. Stubbins

Credit: 2 Semester Hours or 1/2 Unit

Meeting hours per week:

Class registration opacity:

Semesters course offered: REFER TO MASTER LISTING

Other notes:

Course last revised:

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