Instructor: Raluca Scarlat.

3 credits: 3 hours of in-class time, 6 hours of independent work per week

MWF 8.50am – 9.40am, ME 1152. Office hours by appointment. Also available for slack conversations, please message me.

Course objectives

1. Learn about the nuclear fuel cycle, the environmental impacts of each of the activities in the nuclear fuel cycle, and the economics and business model of nuclear power production and each of the steps involved in the nuclear fuel cycle.
2. Engage in a critical review of the nuclear industry. What are some of the technology, policy, and business model gaps?
3. Be empowered to engage with a broader public on a critical review of the nuclear industry.

Graded Assignments

1. Assignments 1-7 40%
2. Quizzes/Class Participation 5%
3. Exam 25%
4. Project 30%

A > 80%, B > 70%, C > 60%, D > 50%, F < 50%

Textbook & readings

Nicholas Tsoulfanidis, The Nuclear Fuel Cycle. American Nuclear Society 2013. (ISBN: 978-0-89448-460-5). Additional reading material will be provided – resources will be uploaded on slack.

Class format

Class time will be used for lectures, in-class exercises, team meetings, and discussions. Your attendance is expected.

Slack 

Use slack to reach me your colleagues in the class. You can ask questions, answer questions, share interesting resources, and send direct messages to me or anyone in the class.

Edublogs

You will need to create a blog to which you will post all of your assignments for this course. The purpose of submitting your assignments online is to share what you learn with everybody else in rest of the world that’s interested in learning about nuclear engineering.

You are welcome to post to this blog any other interesting material or resources that you wish, in order to make it a more comprehensive and useful website. It is something you can showcase and share with your friends, potential employees, colleagues. You can continue to develop it after the end of the semester.

Academic integrity

The honor system applies for all work and activities related to this class, and academic integrity is expected. Please refer to The Academic Integrity Statement of UW-Madison Division of Student Life.

Diversity and Inclusion

Please do your part in creating a productive learning environment for yourself and for everyone in the class. Pay attention, take initiative, speak up, don’t be afraid to make mistakes. 

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background – people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

Course topics and schedule

1. Review of the nuclear fuel cycle: week 1
2. Nuclear fuel: weeks 2, 3, 4
   1. resources
   2. mining and milling
   3. conversion and enrichment
   4. fuel fabrication
3. Reprocessing and recycling: week 5
4. Spent fuel and radioactive waste management: week 6
5. Decommissioning and Severe accidents: week 7
6. Electric utility markets and nuclear power economics: week 8
7. Community engagement: week 9
8. Case studies: weeks 10-14