"Nuclear Power Plant Calculations" serves as a seamless continuation of the educational unit on "Introduction to Nuclear Reactors." This comprehensive resource is tailored for engineering students specializing in nuclear power, aiming to deepen their understanding of reactor dynamics and operational efficiency. Through structured lessons, learners explore fundamental concepts such as reactor power output, fuel efficiency, and core temperature regulation, building upon the foundational principles established in the previous unit. Practical problem-solving exercises are integrated throughout the resource, allowing students to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios.

Statistics on Nuclear energy and how it is used around the world. How much nuclear power is used and where.

This capstone course is a group design project involving integration of nuclear physics, particle transport, control, heat transfer, safety, instrumentation, materials, environmental impact, and economic optimization. It provides opportunities to synthesize knowledge acquired in nuclear and non-nuclear subjects and apply this knowledge to practical problems of current interest in nuclear applications design. Each year, the class takes on a different design project; this year, the project is a power plant design that ties together the creation of emission-free electricity with carbon sequestration and fossil fuel displacement. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
This course is an elective subject in MIT’s undergraduate Energy Studies Minor. This Institute-wide program complements the deep expertise obtained in any major with a broad understanding of the interlinked realms of science, technology, and social sciences as they relate to energy and associated environmental challenges.

This interactive diagram from the National Academy of Sciences shows how we rely on a variety of primary energy sources (solar, nuclear, hydro, wind, geothermal, natural gas, coal, biomass, oil) to supply energy to four end-use sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation). It also focuses on lost or degraded energy.

The CK-12 21st Century Physics FlexBook is a collaborative effort of the Secretaries of Education and Technology and the Department of Education that seeks to elevate the quality of physics instruction across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This course is designed to give you the scientific understanding you need to answer questions like: How much energy can we really get from wind? How does a solar photovoltaic work? What is an OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Converter) and how does it work? What is the physics behind global warming? What makes engines efficient? How does a nuclear reactor work, and what are the realistic hazards? The course is designed for MIT sophomores, juniors, and seniors who want to understand the fundamental laws and physical processes that govern the sources, extraction, transmission, storage, degradation, and end uses of energy.

This course is designed to give you the scientific understanding you need to answer questions like:

How much energy can we really get from wind?
How does a solar photovoltaic work?
What is an OTEC (Ocean Thermal Energy Converter) and how does it work?
What is the physics behind global warming?
What makes engines efficient?
How does a nuclear reactor work, and what are the realistic hazards?

The course is designed for MIT sophomores, juniors, and seniors who want to understand the fundamental laws and physical processes that govern the sources, extraction, transmission, storage, degradation, and end uses of energy.

In this short activity, students or groups are tasked to make concept sketches that track the source of electrical power as far back as they can conceive. The concept sketches reveal students' prior conceptions of the power grid and energy mix, and lead naturally into a lesson or discussion about energy resources and power production.

This paper introduces a card exercise which allows students to make decisions about how best to provide electrical power to their country. The work presented emphasizes the use in the classroom of real data to solve real problems, in this case balancing electrical power supply and demand in the UK. With some additional research the task may be easily adapted for use in other countries. Whilst completing the activity, the students are required to make important choices between renewable and non-renewable electricity generation. It is a highly differentiated task ranging from simple addition to quite challenging calculations taking into account the availability and variability of natural resources. This means that it can be used with classes from Year 9 through to Year 13.

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We know how to generate tons of electricity without pumping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, using a technology that’s already mature, widespread, and competitive with fossil fuels—and also, very controversial: nuclear power. In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno, Director of the MIT Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, sits down with host Laur Hesse Fisher to explore how nuclear power works, why even some climate advocates don’t agree on using it, and what role it can play in our clean energy future.

Let’s talk about a technology that could change our whole energy system, but so far hasn’t generated a single watt. In the season finale of TILclimate (Today I Learned Climate), Professor Dennis Whyte sits down with host Laur Hesse Fisher to talk about fusion energy.

This visualization is an interactive Energy System Map, which includes short write-ups introducing students to fundamental energy system topics, paired with animated videos and deep dive resources.

In this activity, students explore energy production and consumption by contrasting regional energy production in five different US regions.

You will learn the physics behind nuclear science, how to gain energy from nuclear fission, how nuclear reactors operate safely, and the life cycle of nuclear fuel: from mining to disposal. In the last part of the course, we will focus on what matters most in the public debate: the economic and social impact of nuclear energy but also the future of energy systems.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Nuclear energy has historically been a source of fear among citizens, often due to the uncertainty associated with radioactive materials. Despite generating power with no carbon dioxide emissions, nuclear energy does not appear to be the public’s frontrunner for replacing harmful fossil fuels, especially among young people. Would you change your mind about nuclear energy if you had more knowledge? “Non-expert” students from Université Côte d’Azur and an “expert” group of French firefighters with training in handling radiological and nuclear risks were surveyed about their perceptions and knowledge of nuclear energy. The two groups showed clear differences in perception, with students more likely to be scared of nuclear energy, and only slightly more than half of students considering French nuclear power stations to be safe. A majority of students did, however, indicate they were likely to change their minds about nuclear if provided more information..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In this opening unit, students develop the societal context for understanding earthquake hazards using as a case study the 2011 Tohoku, Japan, earthquake. It starts with a short homework "scavenger hunt" in which students find a compelling video and information about the earthquake. In class, they share some of what they have found and then engage in a series of think-pair-share exercises to investigate both the societal and scientific data about the earthquake.

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Online-ready: This opening class discussion about earthquakes and societal impacts could easily be converted to an online discussion format.

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This subject examines the unique culture that developed in the United States after World War II. The dawn of the nuclear age and the ensuing Cold War fundamentally altered American politics and social life. It also led to a flowering of technological experimentation and rapid innovation in the sciences. Over the course of the term, students will explore how Americans responded to these changes, and how those responses continue to shape life in the US today.

This is an animated, visual illustration of the history of nuclear power plants in the United States.

With an introduction to the ideas of energy, students discuss specific types of energy and the practical sources of energy. Hands-on activities help them identify types of energy in their surroundings and enhance their understanding of energy.

The definition of Nuclear Energy and how it works, along with some of its statistics, uses, and applications.