Nuclear engineering is a research area focused on the analysis, design, optimization, and safety assessment of systems that exploit nuclear processes, primarily fission and, increasingly, fusion. It encompasses reactor physics, thermal-hydraulics, fuel cycle science, radiation transport, materials behavior under irradiation, and nuclear instrumentation and control. Research addresses core design, neutron economy, transmutation, waste minimization, and proliferation resistance, as well as severe-accident phenomenology and probabilistic risk assessment. Contemporary nuclear engineering also investigates advanced reactor concepts (e.g., fast reactors, high-temperature reactors, small modular reactors), fuel and cladding innovations, fusion plasma-facing components, and nuclear data evaluation to support both power generation and non-power applications such as medical isotope production and radiation technologies.
As the focus on energy resiliency and competitiveness increases, the development of advanced materials for next-generation, commercial fusion reactors is gaining attention. A recent paper published in the journal Current ...
Plasma Physics
Jun 2, 2025
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How can fission-powered propulsion help advance deep space exploration, specifically to the outer planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science ...
Space Exploration
Jun 2, 2025
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Nuclear fusion reactors are highly powerful technologies that can generate energy by fusing (i.e., joining) two light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus. These fusion reactions release large amounts of energy, which ...
Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has stood as a promising potential alternative propulsion technology for decades. Chemical rockets have begun to reach their theoretical maximum efficiency, and their developers have switched ...
Space Exploration
May 28, 2025
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Could the seismic signal of an underground nuclear test explosion be "hidden" by the signal generated by a natural earthquake?
Earth Sciences
Apr 24, 2025
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Researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a neural network model based on self-attention mechanisms to rapidly predict radiation shielding designs for space ...
Space Exploration
Apr 22, 2025
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Around the U.S., about 90,000 tons of nuclear waste is stored at more than 100 sites in 39 states, in a range of different structures and containers.
Environment
Apr 14, 2025
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Nuclear fusion is a source of great hope for future energy security, with this field being explored in research reactors around the world. Accurately detecting their performance requires measurement systems that supply valid ...
Plasma Physics
Mar 31, 2025
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Recently, a leaflet was delivered to my home from Nuclear Waste Services, the company that is overseeing the final disposal of some of the most dangerous waste that exists. It reminded me that the small village where I live ...
Environment
Mar 25, 2025
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A research team, led by Professor Jimin Lee and Professor Eisung Yoon in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at UNIST, has unveiled a deep learning–based approach that significantly accelerates the computation of a nonlinear ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 28, 2025
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