Refresh your nuclear fundamentals with three UNENE courses

 
 
Woman studies at a computer

JULY 15, 2021 – The University Network of Excellence in Nuclear Engineering (UNENE) is offering three, two-day refresher courses in nuclear power fundamentals including mathematics, thermal hydraulics, and safety. 

The one-weekend, online courses are open to all employees of UNENE industry members and are ideal for UNENE M.Eng. students preparing for their related courses.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, these courses will be delivered entirely online and synchronously via WebEx. They are free of charge. Those not enrolled in the UNENE graduate program will receive a certificate for participation.

Course Descriptions

Math Refresher Course – August 7-8, 2021

Dr. Wei-Chau Xie, University of Waterloo

This mathematics and modelling refresher course will help if you have been away from academia for a number of years. Unused math skills can fade if not used regularly, so this course will bring you to a greater level of competency. This course is not intended for first-time learners.

Thermal Hydraulics Refresher Course – August 28-29, 2021

Dr. Nikola Popov, McMaster University

This is a standalone course overviewing the fundamentals of thermal hydraulics and will be useful for a wider group of reactor designers, safety analysts, and nuclear engineers. It is also a preparatory short course for UNENE students who are taking the UN 0804 graduate course on thermal hydraulics design of the reactor’s primary heat transport system.

The course covers the following topics:

  1. Provides fundamentals of mass, momentum, and energy conservation laws; reactor thermodynamics; reactor fluid mechanics; and two-phase flow and heat transfer in the reactor’s primary heat transport system.
  2. Provides an overview of the UN 0804 full graduate course, including an overview of the primary heat transport system of various reactor types, design objectives and process, design and operation of primary heat transport system components, heat and mass transfer in the reactor core, design and operation of the secondary heat transport system of CANDU and pressurized reactors, concepts of the reactor thermal efficiency, principles of reactor thermal margins, the concept of critical heat flux in the core, the dryout and the post dryout heat transfer, and pressure drop in various components of the primary heat transport system.

Safety Refresher Course – December 4-5, 2021

Dr. Victor Snell, McMaster University

This course will suit people working in nuclear energy, and UNENE students, who want training in CANDU safety.

This introductory course serves two purposes:

  1. It provides a stand-alone overview and summary of CANDU reactor safety and safety analysis, drawing concepts from the graduate UNENE UN 0803 course, CANDU reactor safety design. The topics summarized include hazards of radiation, goal of reactor safety, identifying accidents and calculating their consequences, defence against accidents, safety design and operating principles, shutdown system design, emergency core cooling system design, containment design, safety analysis methodology and a safety analysis example. The introduction alone is not for academic credit, but attendees’ employers may choose to credit it as part of employee training.
  2. It is an introduction to, and presents highlights of, the graduate UNENE course UN 0803. This would benefit UNENE graduate students who plan to take the formal course, as it will expose them to the course’s key ideas.

Attendees must register in advance with Areti Tsiliganos (unene@mcmaster.ca). A reminder will be sent leading up to the dates for the courses.