Handbook

This handbook entry is for students commencing their studies from 2024. Please refer to previous editions of the handbook for pre-2024 requirements.

The nuclear debate is ongoing. Irrespective of the outcome of 'new build' proposals in the Western world, there is an existing portfolio of reactors that require maintenance, servicing, operation and eventually decommissioning. There is waste to be managed and there is a fuel cycle that requires servicing and handling. They all necessitate engineers with an understanding of the unique environment experienced at nuclear sites.

In addition, many countries are assessing nuclear energy programmes as one of a number of mechanisms to provide secure, low-carbon energy, and some have embarked on national nuclear build programmes. Such programmes are raising many global challenges, not least due to proliferation concerns and environmental security.

The long-term needs of the nuclear engineering field are clear and many nations have long-term commitments to nuclear engineering including conventional power generation, radiological applications in medicine and healthcare, and proliferation monitoring and control. There is an ageing workforce in the sector and ample opportunities for nuclear engineering graduates.

Hence there is a strong need for a new generation of nuclear-conversant engineers. The development of nuclear engineering skills is a timely opportunity for engineering graduates. The aim of the Nuclear Engineering stream is to educate and inform engineering graduates in the underpinning theory behind nuclear engineering techniques, technologies and processes, and provides a stream that allows engineering graduates, from traditional engineering disciplines, to prepare themselves for a career in nuclear engineering. The stream aims to produce graduates capable of embarking on a nuclear engineering career and contributing to the nuclear debate from a knowledgeable standpoint.

The specialisation will have contributions from national and international experts in the Nuclear Engineering sector including material from the Centre for Nuclear Engineering at Imperial College, London, and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Australia.