Nuclear engineering aims for a future of safe, clean energy for all. Engineering students studying in this field could be the ones to make that dream a reality.
Recently, two graduate students in the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (known as Course 22), Brandon Sorbom and Leigh Anne Kesler, shared a rare tour of the nuclear science lab facilities at MIT. Built in a row of converted former warehouses and cracker-storage facilities, these facilities offer students one of the densest concentrations of nuclear science instrumentation outside of the professional world.
During the tour, Sorbom and Kesler discussed what it's like to work inside a network of facilities and labs that mimic the footprint of a national lab.
"Nuclear science and engineering is one of our longest bets, but its possible payoffs could save the planet," said Ian Waitz, dean of the School of Engineering.
"Today, students in Course 22 take design courses on nuclear power and radiation safety. Researchers are advancing solutions for nuclear disarmament, an alumni start-up is developing a reactor that will generate less waste than current reactors and, in October, the engineers and scientists running the Alcator C-Mod fusion reactor got the world’s attention by setting a new record. After 50 years of effort, the prospect of sustainable fusion power looks like it could be achieved in our lifetimes."
To learn more about studying nuclear engineering, visit the MIT School of Engineering and Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.