Nuclear engineering is an area where specialists work with radioactive materials and radiation to design and develop processes to be used in nuclear medicine, energy production, and industry. People working in the nuclear engineering field solve real-world problems such as nuclear waste management, response protocols to accidents in nuclear power plants, and how to treat cancer with radiation.
Nuclear engineering specialists go through extensive training and have great aptitudes in chemistry, physics and mathematics. Nuclear engineering covers many different areas, including nuclear power generation, medical use of the nuclear energy and the impact of nuclear by-products on the environment.
Since the end of the 19th century, scientists have thought of a variety of uses for the power that is stored in atoms, including using steam, produced by nuclear power, to generate electricity. In the 1980s, the amount of electricity produced by nuclear energy exceeded that generated by hydroelectric power.
There are several types of engineering disciplines that make good candidates for nuclear engineer jobs.
Mechanical engineering
High safety requirements in the engineering of nuclear power plants require special attention when conducting the analysis of systems, plant components and supportive constructions. In addition to the normal operating requirements, there are other aspects that must also be examined: abnormal operating conditions, malfunctions and damage situations, as well as intermediate disassembly works for installations in the process of disassembly. In particular, transient and dynamic processes must also be included here.
Civil engineering
Civil engineers can specialize in services that cover the entire life cycle of nuclear installations. Civil engineering plans and designs, delivers and installs equipment, systems and processes in nuclear power plants and research centers. It also involves maintenance and inspection work, as well as modernization works. The competence of these specialists includes the post-operational phase, the dismantling of nuclear installations, as well as the design and delivery of facilities for the treatment, conditioning and disposal of radioactive waste.
Electrical engineering
An electrical engineer is able to carry out any design, installation, commissioning, repair and modernization work of power lines and stations, from low to super and ultra-high voltages. These specialists also provide high-tech, safe and economical maintenance of electrical networks, thermal and nuclear power plants, using new progressive technologies, equipment and automated systems.
Chemical engineering
In general, the field of chemical engineering involves the use of the principles of chemistry for the purpose of converting raw materials into marketable products. However, chemical engineers also invest their knowledge and skills in developing new technologies, as well as in finding practical solutions to improve and maintain them.
Chemical engineering involves ensuring chemical control for chemical processes specific to nuclear power plants, as well as ensuring quality control for all physical and chemical analyses of liquid and gaseous samples taken from plant systems.
Chemical engineering combines chemistry with concepts of engineering and economics to solve technological problems. The critical skills required in this field include an in-depth understanding of chemistry, as well as of mechanical engineering and fluid dynamics. In addition, considering that nuclear facilities are quite large, there are structural aspects that have to be taken into account. For this reason, chemical engineers are often required to have some knowledge in structural engineering.