Undergraduate Courses
ME 177K, ME 277K, ME 377K. Projects in Nuclear and Radiation Engineering
This course is intended to have students work with individual faculty members in research topics related to nuclear and radiation engineering. Topics may vary from literature searches to computing to experimental design. This course is credited for one, two or three hours for three, six or nine hours a week of research. Prerequisite: any course in the Nuclear or Radiation Engineering option.
ME 336P Concepts in Nuclear and Radiation Engineering
This course is intended to introduce students at all levels and from all disciplines to the many different aspects and applications of nuclear and radiation engineering/physics. Topics covered include: history of nuclear development, basic concepts of radiation and radioactivity, radioactive waste management, global warming and the impact of nuclear power plants, industrial applications, health physics, nuclear medicine, job opportunities at power plants, non-proliferation, nuclear security, discussion of opportunities for graduate schools at national laboratories, tour of University of Texas nuclear research reactor along with four introductory laboratories. This course is credited for three hours. Prerequisite: sophomore level or above in any university discipline in engineering or science.
ME 337C Introduction to Nuclear Power Systems
Radioactivity, nuclear interactions- fission and fusion, fission reactors, nuclear power systems, nuclear power safety. Prerequisite: For engineering majors, Physics 303L and 103N with a grade of at least C in each and admission to an appropriate major sequence in engineering; for nonengineering majors, upper-division standing and written consent of instructor.
ME 337F Nuclear Environmental Protection
Course is designed to provide fundamental understanding of ionizing radiation and its interactions with matter and living tissues, radioactive decay kinetics, external and internal dose measurement, transportation thorough the environment, managing radioactive waste streams, and safeguards. Perquisite: For engineering majors, Physics 303L and 103N with a grade of at least C in each and admission to an appropriate major sequence in engineering; for non-engineering majors, upper division standing.
ME 337G Nuclear Safety and Security
Evaluation of proliferation risk of the facilities within the nuclear fuel cycle. Methods are developed and utilized to calculate the criticality conditions for a nuclear assembly. Parent/daughter decay equations are developed and utilized. Forensics evaluations are conducted for different nuclear sources. Perquisite: For engineering majors, Physics 303L and 103N with a grade of at least C in each and admission to an appropriate major sequence in engineering; for non-engineering majors, upper division standing.
ME 361E Nuclear Operations and Reactor Engineering
Fundamental principles of the design and analysis of nuclear systems; introduction to the physics of nuclear reactions, chain reactions, and nuclear energy generation; heat generation and conduction within nuclear systems; heat transfer and fluid flow in nuclear systems; the thermodynamics of nuclear power; the nuclear fuel cycle; and issues related to the materials aspect of reactor engineering. Prerequisites: For engineering majors ME 326 with a grade of at least C, credit with a grade of at least C or registration for ME 339, and admission to an appropriate major sequence in Engineering; for nonengineering major, upper-division standing and written consent of instructor.
ME 361F Radiation and Radiation Protection Laboratory
An introduction to the application of radiation and radiation protection instrumentation. One hour lecture per week and one three hour laboratory. Lecture and laboratory topics include personnel monitoring; radiation detection systems; gamma-ray spectroscopy; determination of environmental radiation; counting statistics; gamma and neutron shielding; and air sampling. Prerequisite: For engineering majors, Physics 303L and 103N with a grade of at least C in each and admission to an appropriate major sequence in engineering; for nonengineering majors, upper division standing and written consent of
instructor. One lecture hour and three laboratory hours a week.
Graduate Courses
* At the graduate level, courses are also available from other areas and departments that may help solidify chosen technical areas of MS and PhD research work.
ME 388C Nuclear Power Engineering
Fundamental principles of the design and analysis of nuclear systems; introduction to the physics of nuclear reactions, chain reactions, and nuclear energy generation; heat generation and conduction within nuclear systems; heat transfer and fluid flow in nuclear systems; the thermodynamics of nuclear power; the nuclear fuel cycle; and issues related to the materials aspect of reactor engineering. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.
ME 388D Nuclear Reactor Theory I
Principle concepts in the physics of nuclear systems; radiation, radioactive decay, and the buildup and depletion of isotopes in nuclear systems; neutron-nucleus interactions and nuclear cross sections; transport or radiation using one-group and two-group diffusion theory; concepts of criticality and time-dependent reactors.
ME 388F Computational Methods in Radiation Transport
Transport equation, Monte Carlo method, energy and time discretization, discrete ordinates, integral methods, even-parity methods.
ME 388G Nuclear Radiation Shielding
Radiation fields/sources; techniques in neutron and photon attenuation: transport description of radiation penetration.
ME 388H Nuclear Safety and Security
Evaluation of proliferation risk of the facilities within the nuclear fuel cycle. Methods are developed and utilized to calculate the criticality conditions for a nuclear assembly. Parent/daughter decay equations are developed and utilized. Forensics evaluations are conducted for different nuclear sources. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
ME 388J Neutron Interactions and their Applications in Nuclear Science and Engineering
The fundamental principles of neutron interactions with matter and how these interactions are used in a variety of science and engineering research areas. Includes the history of neutron research, fundamental principles, dosimetry, depth profile, radiography, activation analysis, detection, homeland security, and scattering, with a significant emphasis placed on experimental design of these neutron techniques. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
ME 388M Mathematical Methods for Nuclear and Radiation Engineers
Fundamental mathematics necessary for graduate studies in nuclear and radiation engineering. The topics include statistics, experimental data, propagation of error, detection limits, differential and partial differential equations encountered in graduate level nuclear and radiation engineering courses. Both time dependent and space dependent solutions will be covered.
ME 388N Design of Nuclear Systems I
Integration of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermomechanics, and thermodynamics with reactor theory for core design.
ME 388S Modern Trends in Nuclear and Radiation Engineering
Student presentations on current research topics in nuclear and radiation engineering outside their research; techniques in proposal writing. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
ME 389C Nuclear Environmental Protection
Course is designed to provide fundamental understanding of ionizing radiation and its interactions with matter and living tissues, radioactivity decay kinetics, external and internal dose measurement, transportation, the environment, managing radioactive waste streams, and safeguards. Prerequisites: Graduate Standing.
ME 389F The Nuclear Fuel Cycle
A survey of the nuclear fuel cycle, including resource acquisition, fuel enrichment and fabrication, spent fuel reprocessing and repository disposal. Nuclear fuel management and reactor physics are addressed in the context of fuel burn-up calculations. Uses cross-disciplinary tools such as cost-benefit and environmental impact analyses. Includes fuel cycles currently in use, advanced fuel cycle concepts currently being presented in the technical literature, and a group project designed to research, analyze, and document the technical, economic, and/or environmental ramifications of one of these advanced fuel cycles. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
ME 390F Nuclear Analysis Techniques
Thermal and fast neutron activation, scintillation and solid-state detectors, beta and gamma spectrometry, coincidence techniques. Two lecture hours and one three hour laboratory a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
ME 390G Nuclear Engineering Laboratory
Experiments using the TRIGA reactor and a subcritical assembly; measurement of reactor characteristics and operational parameters.
ME 390N Health Physics Laboratory
An introduction to the application of radiation and radiation protection instrumentation. One hour lecture per week and one three hour laboratory. Lecture and laboratory topics include personnel monitoring; radiation detection systems; gamma-ray spectroscopy; determination of environmental radiation; counting statistics; gamma and neutron shielding; and air sampling. Prerequisite: For engineering majors, Physics 303L and 103N with a grade of at least C in each and admission to an appropriate major sequence in engineering; for nonengineering majors, upper division standing and written consent of instructor. One lecture hour and three laboratory hours a week.
ME 390T Nuclear and Radiochemistry
An introduction to the theory and applications of nuclear and radiochemistry. One lecture per week and one three hour laboratory. Lecture and laboratory topics include alpha, beta, and gamma ray processes; fission products; statistics; solvent extraction; absorption and leaching techniques; various counting methods; and radiation protection.
MS Thesis Course Requirements
ME 397M Graduate Research Internship
This course is intended to be taken while the student is involved in an internship program.
ME 398R Masters Report
This course must be taken during the last semester of study of those MS students submitting a report instead of a thesis.
ME 698A Thesis Literature Review
This course must be taken in the semester before graduation.
ME 698B Thesis Writing
This course must be taken during the last semester of study.
PhD Dissertation Course Requirements
ME 399W, ME699W Dissertation
At least 6 hours of ME 399W or ME 699W must be taken during the writing portion the PhD student’s dissertation. The student must register for at least ME 399W or ME 699W in the semester of graduating.