NE B.S. vs. NE and CHEM E joint major

ne1

Hi,

I’m a transfer student to UC Berkeley (fall 12), coming from a community college. I am transferring as a nuclear engineering major, but I can choose to do a joint major program in chemical and nuclear engineering (core courses are taken from both majors). The reason I’m considering the joint major is that many people tell me that jobs/opportunities are rare for nuclear engineers, and having a background in chem E would open more opportunities for me.


The NE major and joint major both have these courses: 1. Nuclear Reactions and Radiation. 2. Radiation Detection and Nuclear Instrumentation Lab. 3. Nuclear Reactor Theory. 4. Nuclear Design. 5. Nuclear Power Engineering. 6. Radioactive waste management.


The Joint major would put these Chem E courses: 1. Chemical Kinetics and Reaction Engineering. 2. Transport (mass) and Separation Processes. 3. Dynamics and Control of Chem processes. 4. Chemical E Lab. 5. Physical Chem.

In place of theses NE courses: 1. Nuclear Materials. 2. Intro to Numerical simulations in Radiation Transport. 3. Intro to imaging. 4. Intro to controlled fusion. 5. Analytical Methods for non-Proliferation. 6. Nuclear Reactor Safety.

What do you think? What would be the advantages/opportunities of choosing either option?
Thanks a lot

Astronuc

I'd recommend taking Nuclear Materials. and if one wants to do core design or other analytical work, then I'd recommend Intro to Numerical simulations in Radiation Transport. Irradiation effects on materials are an important area of research, particularly with respect to lengthening service time in-core and within the primary system.