Readings

Textbooks

The text book for this course is:

Lamarsh, John. Introduction to Nuclear Engineering. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. ISBN: 9780201824988.
This covers basic reactor physics as part of a complete survey of nuclear engineering.

Readings may also be assigned from certain of the books listed below:

Henry, A. F. Nuclear Reactor Analysis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1975. ISBN: 9780262080811.

Shultis, J., and R. Faw. Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Engineering. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker, 2002. ISBN: 9780824708344.

Hewitt, G., and J. Collier. Introduction to Nuclear Power. New York, NY: Taylor and Francis, 2000. ISBN: 9781560324546.

Turner, J. Atoms, Radiation, and Radiation Protection. New York, NY: Pergamon Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780080319377.

Kneif, R. Nuclear Criticality Safety: Theory and Practice. American Nuclear Society, 1985. ISBN: 9780894480287.

Knoll, G. Radiation Detection and Measurement. New York, NY: Wiley, 2000. ISBN: 9780471073383.

Readings by Lecture Topic

Note: "L" refers to the Lamarsh text.

Course readings.
Lec #	Topics	Readings
1	Introduction/reactor layout and classification	Henry - Section 1.8 (PDF - 2.5 MB) (Courtesy of MIT Press. Used with permission.)
2	Chart of nuclides/neutron sources	L - Chapter 2 Knoll - pp. 20 to 28
3	Neutron reactions/Boltzman distribution/number density	Turner -Section 9.7
4	Neutron cross-sections
5	Binding energy/liquid drop model/fission process	Shultis - Section 3.2 L - Section 3.7
	Tour of MIT research reactor
6	Burners, converters, breeders/neutron life cycle	L - Section 4.2
7	Neutron life cycle
8	Criticality accidents/why is radiation dangerous	Kneif - Chapter 3
9	Neutron flux, reaction rates, current	L - Sections 5.1 and 5.2
10	One velocity model	L - Sections 5.3 and 5.4
	Exam 1
11	Non-multiplying media	L - Section 5.6
12	Multiplying media	L - Sections 6.1 to 6.3
13	Criticality conditions	L - Section 6.4
14	Kinematics of neutron scattering	L - Section 3.6 Henry - Section 2.5
15	Group diffusion method	L - Section 5.8 Henry - Sections 3.1 and 3.2
16	Solution of group equations	Henry - Section 3.3
	Exam 2
17	Energy dependence of flux	Henry - Section 3.4
18	Group theory/four factor formula	Henry - Section 3.5
19	Reactors of finite size	Henry - Section 4.4 to 4.7
20	Reactors of multiple regions: One group	Henry - Sections 4.9 and 4.10
21	Reactors of multiple regions: Two group	Henry - Section 4.11
22	Application of the two-group equations	L - pp. 304 to 308
23	Few group and multi-group approaches	L - Section 6.7 Henry - Section 4.13
24	Monte Carlo analysis	Henry - pp. 371 to 379
	Exam 3
25	Subcritical multiplication and reactor startup
26	Reactor operation without feedback	L - Section 7.1 to 7.2 L - Section 7.1
27	Analytic solution of reactor kinetics	Henry - Section 7.5
28	Dynamic period and inhour equation	Bernard, John A., and Lin Wen Hu. "Dynamic Period Equation: Derivation, Relation to Inhour Equation, and Precursor Estimation." IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science 46, no. 3 (1999): 425-437.
29	Reactor operation with feedback effects	L - Sections 7.3 and 7.4 Henry - Section 6.3
30	Achievement of feedback effects	Hewitt - Sections 2.4.6 and 5.2.7
	Exam 4
31	Shutdown margin/review of TMI
	Review