Program Overview

Graduate Certificate in Nuclear Criticality Safety

About

The graduate, distance education Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineering (NCSE) Certificate program will provide the graduate MSMNE student a diverse education and the practicing NCS engineer (and their employer) with components that will help train and maintain a well-qualified workforce. The UNLV NCSE Certificate will provide evidence that the graduate has the appropriate education to become a certified NCS Engineer in NRC-licensed facilities, US DOE’s national laboratories, and the Navy Reactors program. The NCSE Certificate program consists of four nuclear engineering courses (twelve credits total) that include three required courses and a related/approved elective course. In addition, many of the proposed topic areas, e.g., Introduction to Nuclear Criticality Safety, are also appropriate subjects for general nuclear engineering graduate students (i.e., not NCS engineers), while other certificate program courses, e.g., Monte Carlo Methods are appropriate for both UNLV’s NE students as well as health and medical physics students.

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please refer to Academic Program Accreditations.

Learning Outcomes

• Graduates will be technically competent in nuclear criticality safety engineering discipline.
• Graduates will understand regulations and standards related to nuclear criticality safety.
• Graduates will be able to identify fuel cycle criticality issues.
• Graduates will be able to use computational tools to model criticality systems.
• Graduates will be able to describe the theory of the Monte Carlo Method and write their own related program or subroutine.

Career Possibilities

The Nuclear Criticality Safety Certificate program is designed to provide current engineers with the components to help train and maintain a well-qualified workforce in nuclear criticality engineering related fields.

Requirements

Plan Description

The graduate, distance education Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) Certificate program will provide the graduate MSMNE student a diverse education and the practicing NCS engineer (and their employer) with components that will help train and maintain a well-qualified workforce. The UNLV NCS Certificate will provide evidence that the graduate has the appropriate education to become a certified NCS Engineer in NRC-licensed facilities, US DOE's national laboratories, and the Navy Reactors program. The NCS Certificate program consists of four nuclear engineering courses (twelve credits total) that include three required courses and a related/approved elective course. In addition, many of the proposed topic areas, e.g., Introduction to Nuclear Criticality Safety, are also appropriate subjects for general nuclear engineering graduate students (i.e., not NCS engineers), while other certificate program courses, e.g., Monte Carlo Methods are appropriate for both UNLV's NE students as well as health and medical physics students.

Plan Admission Requirements

• Application deadlines: Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.
• Admission to the NCS Certificate program requires both a BS degree in an engineering discipline and ME 455/655 Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering (or equivalent).
• If an applicant can demonstrate equivalent knowledge from relevant work experience (e.g. Navy nuclear reactor program or extensive training and experience at an NRC-licensed or DOE process facility), the Director of the NCS Certificate Program can waive both requirements with the concurrence of the Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering based upon review by nuclear engineering faculty.
• All applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.

Plan Requirements

• Total Credits Required: 12

Course Requirements

Required Courses – Credits: 9

• ME 754 - Introduction to Nuclear Criticality Safety
• ME 755 - Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineering
• ME 756 - Monte Carlo Methods in Nuclear Engineering

Elective – Credits: 3

Complete an advisor-approved graduate-level nuclear engineering or health physics course.

Certificate Requirements

Completion of a minimum of 12 credits with a minimum GPA of 3.00.

Documents and Downloads

Plans of Study

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Syllabi

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Degree Worksheets

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Careers

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Graduate Handbooks

• Program Handbook 159.37 KB

Additional Downloads

• Admission Requirements 171 KB

Related Links

• Admission Requirements

Contacts

Graduate Coordinator

• Jaeyun Moon
• Associate Professor; Graduate Program Coordinator

Department of Mechanical Engineering

The Department of Mechanical Engineering prepares students for the lifelong practice of mechanical engineering and related engineering disciplines. Our students to become problem solvers through applying science to deal with the relations among forces, work, or energy, and power in designing systems, which ultimately contributes to the betterment of the human environment.

Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering

The College of Engineering provides students a well-rounded foundation in several engineering disciplines for a successful career in engineering and computer science. Through the hands-on, experiential education experience we offer, students are enabled to achieve excellence in their respective fields.