Introduction to nuclear engineering [antikvár]

PREFACE The field of nuclear engineering is now in the same transition period as all major branches of engineering have undergone. Although the original development of nuclear energy was carried out almost entirely by theoretical scientists, now that the fundamental principles have been established, the further use of nuclear energy is falling more and more into the province of the engineer. If the engineering profession is to accept the responsibilities created by this new scientific field, the younger engineers must be willing to undertake such problems as radiation shielding, radiation damage, chemical processing of radioisotopes, and the engineering design of nuclear chain reactors. This book is intended as an introductory survey of the nuclear-energy field for engineers who are taking or who have completed a conventional engineering curriculum. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the standard engineering operations, and only the unique features of nuclear energy are discussed. Of necessity the book contains only unclassified material, but this has not been a serious limitation, since most of the fundamental engineering principles have been released. Much of the material presented here comes from personal discussions with engineers and scientists now employed in the nuclear-energy field. Although it is impossible to acknowledge all who have given assistance in the assembling of this material, the author would like to thank C. H. Marsh and G. Morris, who have given encouragement in the preparation of a book of this type. The material on the fast reactor is included through the cooperation of J. M. B. Kellogg of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and the description of the Brookhaven reactor is with the permission of M. Fox, chairman of the reactor department. The entire manuscript has been reviewed and cleared for publication by the Declassification Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission. It should be noted that the preparation of the manuscript and the arrangements for publication of this book have been carried out by the author purely as an individual. The statements which appear within are the personal feelings of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Atomic Energy Commission or any of its contractors. In appreciation of the friendly cooperation the author has x-eceived while assembling the information presented here, this book is respectfully dedicated to all those workers in the nuclear-energy field who have contributed to its preparation. Richard Stephenson