NUEN 301 Lecture 2: 1.Overview-withblanks

• School: Texas A&M University
• Department: Nuclear Engineering
• Course: NUEN 301
• Professor: Adams Marvin

Document Summary

This course is about the basic theory of nuclear ( ssion) reactors. Recall further that when a heavy nucleus ssions, it releases particles (including neutrons) and energy. These facts suggest the possibility of a self-sustaining chain reaction: neutrons cause ssions, which produce neutrons, which cause more ssions, etc. This, of course, is the idea behind ssion reactors. It should be no surprise that nuclear engineers need to know a bit more detail than that. These and many other questions land on nuclear engineers" desks. Answering them requires knowledge of where the neutrons are, what they are doing, and what happens when neutrons do what neutrons do. This course is about where the neutrons are, what they are doing, and what happens when they do what they do. A neutron in a reactor ultimately faces limited options: leak, or, get absorbed. Overview (it could also decay into a proton, electron, and neutrino, but this is rare enough that we ignore it.