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22.04J | Fall 2025 | Undergraduate

# Social Problems of Nuclear Energy

### Introduction

#### Session 1: A Quick History of Nuclear Energy

Lecture 1: Introduction to 22.04 and the History of Nuclear Power

Reading assignment #1

Opt-in homework #1 out

#### Session 2: How Do Reactors Work?

Lecture 2: Nuclear Technology 101

Reading assignment #2

#### Session 3: How We Think About Climate Change

Lecture 3: How Should We Join Climate Change to Energy Policy?

Reading assignment #3

Opt-in homework #1 due

Opt-in homework #2 out

### Part I: Energy Policy for Decarbonization

#### Session 4: Introduction to Microeconomics

Lecture 4: The Capital Cost of Nuclear Power

Reading assignment #4

#### Session 5: Finance of Nuclear Power

Lecture 5: Can Nuclear Compete Given Decarbonization?

Reading assignment #5

Opt-in homework #2 due

#### Session 6: Microreactors, Learning, and Cost Control

Lecture 6: Nuclear Reactor Cost Around the World and the Potential for Cost Reduction

Reading assignment #6

Opt-in homework #3 out

#### Session 7: Wind and Solar

Lecture 7: Can Renewables Decarbonize the Electricity Sector in the United States?

Reading assignment #7

#### Session 8: Microreactors

Lecture 8: What Investors Need to Know About Small-Modular and Microreactors

Reading assignment #8

Opt-in homework #3 due

Opt-in homework #4 out

#### Session 9: The Grid

Lecture 9: How the Electric Grid Controls Progress on Decarbonization

Reading assignment #9

#### Session 10: The Heat Market

Lecture 10: Potential for Nuclear Process Heat

Opt-in homework #4 due

Opt-in homework #5 out

#### Session 11: How to Choose a Paper Topic

Comm Lab Lecture: How to Choose a Paper Topic

#### Session 12: Paper Topics Peer Review

Workshop: Paper Topics Peer Review

Opt-in homework #5 due

Three research paper topics with supporting paragraphs due

### Part II: Nuclear Safety

#### Session 13: Introduction to Externalities and Regulation

Lecture 11: Theory of Externalities and How Nuclear Power Is Regulated by the NRC

Reading assignment #10

Opt-in homework #6 out

#### Session 14: Radiation Biology

Lecture 12: Introduction to Radiation Risk

Reading assignment #11

#### Session 15: LNT and Model Selection

Lecture 13: The Linear No-Threshold Theory

Reading assignment #12

Opt-in homework #6 due

Opt-in homework #7 out

#### Session 16: Safety Summary

Lecture 14: Is Nuclear Power Safe? Calculating the Number of Deaths Caused by Nuclear Accidents

Reading assignment #13

#### Session 17: History of Nuclear Waste

Lecture 15: Dealing with Nuclear Waste

Reading assignment #14

Opt-in homework #7 due

### Part III: Nuclear Security

#### Session 18: Nuclear Weapons 1

Lecture 16: Nuclear Proliferation and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle—Part 1

Reading assignment #15

#### Session 19: Nuclear Weapons 2

Lecture 17: Nuclear Proliferation and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle—Part 2

Reading assignment #16

#### Session 20: Nuclear Proliferation

Reading assignment #17

Complete draft of the final paper due for peer review

#### Session 21: Paper Peer Review

No class. Students do paper peer review during class time.

### Part IV: Wrap Up

#### Session 22: Paper Peer Review

Written copy of your peer review due

Peer review session: meet and discuss each other’s papers

#### Session 23: Synthesis: Nuclear vs. the Rest

Lecture 18: Do We Need Nuclear Power to Fix Climate Change—a Review of the Course’s Findings

Reading assignment #18

#### Session 24: A Way Forward

Lecture 19: Why the Public Is Skeptical About Nuclear Power—a Way Forward

Reading assignment #19

Revised final paper due

#### Sessions 25–27: Student Presentations

## Course Info

### Instructor

- Prof. R. Scott Kemp

### Departments

- Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Science, Technology, and Society

### As Taught In

Fall 2025

### Level

Undergraduate

### Topics

- Energy
  - Nuclear Energy
- Engineering
  - Nuclear Engineering

### Learning Resource Types

theaters Lecture Videos
auto_stories Readings
assignment Written Assignments

Browse Resources

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