Nuclear Reactor Physics and Engineering M2

The nuclear industry has expressed a strong need for technicians and engineers. Correlatively, R&D upstream from, and in support of, industrial deployment is carried out within nuclear research organs such as CEA, and at certain universities such as the University of Paris Sud XI in Orsay. This is the context which informed the development of the Nuclear Reactor Physics and Engineering second year Master’s specialization, which is designed for students who want to work in the field of nuclear energy. This program leads either to direct professional placement (at Bac+5 level), or to further study and research at the doctoral level.

Pedagogy

The Nuclear Reactor Physics and Engineering specialization is designed to provide in-depth training in the area of nuclear reactor physics, giving students the necessary skills to utilize existing tools, develop and install third generation reactors, and design and develop future systems, also called ‘integrated systems’ (generation IV). These goals require a systemic and holistic vision to grasp the domain of civilian nuclear energy in all its dimensions, where reactor-related challenges are tightly connected with issues related to the associated fuel. This involves joint teaching in various disciplines, with content that is both sciaentific and technological.
Indeed, the field of nuclear reactor physics alone draws on skills in neutronics, thermal hydraulics, and metallurgy/materials.
While the nuclear fuel cycle field, on the other hand, draws largely on the chemistry of hydrometallurgical processes, the understanding of which requires knowledge of solution chemistry, separation chemistry, and radiochemistry.

Program

The Master’s program consists of ten courses (UE) of 460 hours corresponding to 42 ECTS.
The theoretical teaching is supplemented with practical work on reactors and simulators carried out at INSTN and at the CEA center in Saclay.
Most of the courses are held at INSTN (http://www.instn.cea.fr/), with others being offered at the University of Paris-Sud XI.

The Internship (18 ECTS)
The five-month internship (from early April until September) is conducted at a research center or in the industry (depending on the student’s choice of career path), in France or abroad. Internship opportunities are communicated to students in early November and final choices made in January, to allow for the signing of an internship agreement with the host institution before the internship begins. Students who want to propose their own internship topic must submit it for approval, as well as the conditions in which it is to take place, to the programme coordinators at the very beginning of the M2 year.
As part of the internships students must produce a report, to be defended in front of a jury selected for the assessment of the internship work. Defenses are held in early September.

Courses

• Introduction to Safety, 2 ECTS   
• Functional Description of a European Pressurized Reactor Plant, 3 ECTS
• Nuclear Physics, 6 ECTS
• Neutronics – Part One, 4 ECTS
• Heat Exchanges – Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics, 6 ECTS
• Nuclear Materials, 5 ECTS
• Use of Calculation Codes -Mini-Projects, 4 ECTS
• Neutronics – Part Two, 4 ECTS
• European Pressurized Reactor: Practical Work, 2 ECTS
• Other Career Paths, 2 ECTS
• Fuel Cycle for REL Career Path, 1 ECTS
• Future Reactors and Cycles, 1 ECTS
• Criticality Safety, 1 ECTS
• Radioprotection, 1 ECTS