• Offered by Research School of Physics
  • ANU College ANU Joint Colleges of Science
  • Classification Advanced
  • Course subject Physics
  • Areas of interest Physics
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Andrew Stuchbery
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2023
    See Future Offerings

This course introduces students to the key concepts in Reactor Physics, including:

  • Basic nuclear principles (Fission, Neutron moderation)
  • Nuclear Fuel options
  • Reactor types (Boiling water, Pressurized water, Heavy water, Thorium, Fast breeder, Gas-cooled)
  • Reactor operation and control
  • Safety and accidents
  • New generation reactors
  • Reactor economics.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. explain basic reactor science;
  2. critically examine reactor types to identify their advantages and disadvantages;
  3. compare the merits of new generation reactors and appraise their technical status;
  4. critically review the issues affecting the economics of nuclear power;
  5. discuss nuclear accidents and evaluate reactor safety measures;

Indicative Assessment

  1. Problem sets and homework tasks (25) [LO 1,2]
  2. Written assignments (75) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:

• Face-to face component which may consist of 2 x 1 hour lectures and 1 x 1 hour tutorial per week

• Approximately 94 hours of self directed study which will include preparation for lectures and other assessment tasks.


Inherent Requirements

To be determined

Prescribed Texts

N/A

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees

Student Contribution Band:
2
Unit value:
6 units

If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2023 $4320
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2023 $6180
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
3146 20 Feb 2023 27 Feb 2023 31 Mar 2023 26 May 2023 In Person N/A

Responsible Officer: Registrar, Student Administration / Page Contact: Website Administrator / Frequently Asked Questions