Introduction to nuclear engineering

This is a self-paced online course.

You choose
when and at what pace you want to study the course contents. All parts of the
course are free of charge. This course contains three modules:

• The
  first module, titled “Nuclear power: an old story…“, details
  the underlying principles of nuclear reactors for the purpose of understanding
  the history of the development of nuclear power, which is also presented. This
  module is further subdivided into the following three topics:

1. Elementary
   concepts in nuclear physics.
2. Working
   principles of nuclear reactors.
3. History
   of world nuclear power development.

• The
  second module, titled “Nuclear reactor technology“, focuses on
  how a nuclear reactor works, with emphasis on Light Water Reactor (LWR)
  technology. Both the phenomenological and engineering aspects of nuclear
  reactors are covered. This module is further subdivided into the following 11 topics:

1. Electricity
   production.
2. Reactor
   generations.
3. Light
   Water Reactor (LWR) technology.
4. Thermodynamic
   analysis of LWRs.
5. Neutron
   cycle.
6. Fuel
   depletion.
7. Reactor
   control.
8. Reactor
   dynamics.
9. Reactor
   operation.
10. Fundamental
    principles of reactor safety.
11. Nuclear
    fuel.

• The
  third module, titled “Nuclear power, saving the world?“,
  explains the aspects of nuclear power to be considered in a climate mitigation
  perspective. The advantages and disadvantages of this technology are discussed
  in this respect. This module is further subdivided into the following five
  topics:

1. Nuclear
   fuel, waste and resources.
2. Proliferation
   risks.
3. Risks.
4. Cost
   of electricity.
5. Conclusions.

The studies mostly consist of watching videos
lectures and answering quizzes associated to the lectures and testing your
understanding. Some of the quizzes require solving numerical tasks. The resources need to be studied sequentially. You cannot bypass given resources unless all previous learning activities were taken:

• For the video lectures, this means watching the video recording.
• For the quizzes, this means correctly answering the quiz questions, for which an unlimited number of attempts is allowed. For a few quizzes slightly more involved, you will be able to access the following resources even if you fail to find the correct answer.

After completing the course, you will be issued a course certificate. Completing the course means reaching the end of the course, for which you need to have watched all video lectures and attempted all quizzes (the vast majority of the quizzes also require to have found the correct answer to the quiz questions). The certificate will mention that:

• The course is a self-paced course,
• The number of equivalent learning hours (40 hours), i.e., the number of hours the teacher estimates it takes to learn the content of the course, and
• The fact that completing the course and being issued a certificate is entirely based on watching the video lectures and correctly answering most of the quizzes (for which an unlimited number of attempts is allowed).