ICONE11-36520 THE FUTURE OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING

Abstract

Today, nuclear power refers to the splitting of large uranium atoms into smaller atoms with a net release of energy. Tomorrow, nuclear power will refer to the combining of hydrogen into larger atoms with a net release of energy. Nuclear power's future is fusion. The Mechanical Engineers of tomorrow will need to be familiar with the process of creating and harnessing the energy from a fusion reaction. During the oil shortage in the 1970's, America scrambled to initiate alternative methods of producing power. Nuclear fusion was one of them. As time passes, the solution to the world's energy crisis presses the countries of the world to find alternative forms of energy; nuclear fusion may contain the answer. In the near future, the field of fusion will open up and a new wave of engineers will flood into this field. Mechanical engineers will lead the way with advances in materials, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis for thermal, electro-magnetic, and structural systems, and heat transfer designs to optimize nuclear fusion reactors and power plants. The future of fusion power lays in the generation and production of electricity. Researchers must first create a sustained fusion reaction that can generate enough heat to transfer to steam, which in turn, would power a turbine creating electricity. This electricity would then go back into sustaining the fusion reaction and be introduced into the power grid. Around the world, there have been recent, promising developments in plasma physics and fusion generation. The time is now to begin preparing for the coming era of nuclear fusion. The time is now to find an alternative to traditional means of energy. The time is now to embrace nuclear fusion.