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Nuclear Regulatory Commission supports nuclear engineering minor at NMSU
The United States has witnessed unprecedented growth in the demand for nuclear technologies with applications spanning a vast spectrum of industries. A resurgence of interest in nuclear energy as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels, coupled with nuclear technologies that have been developed for application in the healthcare and food safety industries, has brought forth a demand for engineers and scientists with a background in the nuclear industry. This demand, however, comes at a time when the number of engineers and scientists The need for engineers with some background in nuclear engineering has increased in the state of New Mexico with the National Enrichment Facility that is being constructed in southeast New Mexico in addition to Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). What is needed is to give engineering graduates from engineering and science disciplines basic knowledge in nuclear engineering and health physics that would educate them about nuclear energy and the nuclear life cycle, and would better prepare them to enter the nuclear industry. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted the NMSU Chemical Engineering Department $102,594 for 2008-2009 as a continuation to the grant in 2007-2008 to continue development of courses to be included in a Nuclear Energy Minor at NMSU. Two of the courses that will be developed this year are Nuclear Reactor Theory and a course in Regulations and Compliance. In the future it is expected that these courses will be delivered via distance learning.