The Unit of Nuclear Engineering is the only academic department in Israel which educates, trains, and qualifies scientists and engineers in vital research fields such as nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, and radiation applications in industry and research. The unit offers advanced studies in these research areas and grants graduate degrees of M.Sc and Ph.D. The curriculum of the unit provides an interdisciplinary education in nuclear engineering, nuclear power and radiation engineering, which are essential in today's advanced technologies.
Research and academic activities of the Unit of Nuclear Engineering focus on the following areas:
- Nuclear power engineering; Design and analysis of power reactors and research reactors; Theory of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel cycles; Advanced non-proliferation nuclear fuel cycles; Development and upgrading of analytical and numerical tools in nuclear engineering.
- Core physics; Design and analysis of zero power core physics experiments; Safety analysis of accident scenarios in nuclear reactors; In-core fuel management and optimization using Evolutionary Computation and genetic algorithms; Protection of nuclear power plants.
- Radiation Chemistry. Radiation detection and localization of radioactive sources; dosimetry, methods and instrumentation; study of hydrides, theory and application for hydrogen storage; Nuclear chemistry research and its application for the production of nuclear medicine radioisotopes.
- Nuclear Medicine & Biomedical Engineering. Application of nuclear techniques in medicine and biology; Monte-Carlo applications in nuclear medicine; development and testing of new radioactive isotopes to improve diagnostic procedures in nuclear medicine; new techniques such as Photon Activation Therapy for improving radiation therapy in oncology patients; utilization of accelerators.
- Radiation Biology. Measurements of DNA damage and repair; radiobiological principles, such as, the biological effects of low dose rate radiations; molecular nuclear medicine.
- Radiation-related Technologies. Application of radiation in industry and research.
The academic staff of the unit includes three senior staff members and four active emeritus faculty, 20 M.Sc students and 15 Ph.D students.
The demand for nuclear and/or radiation engineers in the Israeli market is relatively small, and most of our graduates are employed by industrial companies, research centers, and medical institutions. Therefore, the unit's curriculum is built to provide our graduates broad and comprehensive education in the general area of physical engineering, and prepare our graduates for professional careers in the industry.
