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
