Her dad Thomas, also an engineer, worked for a local power company and actually helped design a nuclear power plant that was later canceled in the 80s. Anna Biela has a hard time remembering exactly when she became hooked on nuclear science. These are all important issues, but there is a single underlying factor which dominates the whole picture, and that is fear. By simply talking with college and high students about nuclear, it actually leads to more excitement. Average starting salaries are about US$60k, with the potential to reach US$180k as your career progresses. Nuclear engineers in this field generally work, directly or indirectly, in the nuclear power industry or for national laboratories. That's 32% of the 2.5 trillion kWh of nuclear power produced worldwide. Nuclear Engineering Student at Purdue University. Energy is, of course, important across the world and is a vital lifeline in our ever changing, modern way of life. Purdue University's research reactor is on track to become the first all-digital reactor in the country. 1. A principal pipeline/source of trained personnel (both military and civilian) for US reactor facilities is the US Navy Nuclear Power Program, including its Nuclear Power School in South Carolina. “The students’ reactions go from skepticism to being excited and engaged,” she said. It’s about 1 million times greater than that of other traditional energy sources and because of this, the amount of used nuclear fuel is not as big as you might think.. All of the used nuclear fuel produced by the U.S. nuclear energy industry over the last 60 years could fit on a football field at a depth of less than 10 yards! The United States is the world's largest producer of nuclear power. In the sub-field of nuclear fission, it particularly includes the design, interaction, and maintenance of systems and components like nuclear reactors, nuclear power plants, or nuclear weapons. Maybe that’s why her middle school projects in Northwest Indiana were a little more advanced than her classmates. Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei (fission) or of combining atomic nuclei (fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of nuclear physics. In 2017, it generated 805 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. If you want to work in a field related to nuclear power, you might wonder whether nuclear engineering or nuclear physics is a better program of study. “I’m the kind of person who really wants to see the results of the work I do,” said Anna. “Nuclear engineering definitely seemed like the obvious choice for me.”. Nuclear energy comes from uranium, a … Anna is on the verge of graduating from Purdue University with a degree in nuclear engineering. Some government (national) labs provide research in the same areas as private industry and in other areas such as nuclear fuels and nuclear fuel cycles, advanced reactor designs, and nuclear weapon design and maintenance. Her goal is to develop advanced reactors—an area and a career path she is very passionate about. To recap, new nuclear power costs about 5 times more than onshore wind power per kWh (between 2.3 to 7.4 times depending upon location and integration issues). Nuclear energy – the energy that develops as a result of splitting the atoms that make up matter – is responsible for generating 20 percent of America’s electrical power, according to the Department of Energy. Since bringing the ambassador program back in the fall of 2016, the following sophomore class jumped from 15% to 21% women in the fall of 2017. Anna takes advantage of her department’s ambassador program, which helps raise awareness about nuclear engineering. Program Nuclear engineering encompasses a huge variety of subfields. The United States’ leadership came from its historic role as a pioneer of nuclear power development. nuclear energy is the most reliable energy source in america Nuclear power plants operated at full capacity more than 93% of the time in 2019—making it the most reliable energy source in America. “Nuclear fusion” (the process of combining atoms into one) has the potential to be safer but has not yet been developed to operate within a large power plant. [3][4][5], Medical physics is an important field of nuclear medicine; its sub-fields include nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, health physics, and diagnostic imaging. “In grade school, I always did class projects on nuclear topics—like writing a report on uranium and fission. In the sub-field of nuclear fission, it particularly includes the design, interaction, and maintenance of systems and components like nuclear reactors, nuclear power plants, or nuclear weapons. Summary. [7][8], Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan of a human head, PET scan taken with an ECAT Exact HR+PET scanner, Nuclear materials research focuses on two main subject areas, nuclear fuels and irradiation-induced modification of nuclear materials. The field also includes the study of medical and other applications of radiation, particularly Ionizing radiation, nuclear safety, heat/thermodynamics transport, nuclear fuel, or other related technology (e.g., radioactive waste disposal) and the problems of nuclear proliferation. Nuclear power plants use “nuclear fission” (the process of splitting an atom in two). Nuclear engineering, the field of engineering that deals with the science and application of nuclear and radiation processes. Anna Biela poses in front of PUR-1. 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[2] Current research in the industry is directed at producing economical and proliferation-resistant reactor designs with passive safety features. I'm graduating in NukE this spring.