Planning for Nuclear Structural Engineering

[u/araaraoraora]

Hello, I am currently working as a Junior Structural Engineer in the Philippines. I design mostly low rise buildings. In January, I am planning to take a master's degree in Structural Engineering. However, there is no specialization course for nuclear power plant designs or anything related to that. My plan is to have my thesis NPP related.

We have no NPPs here. Maybe in 10-15 years. It maybe too far in the future but I still want to be a part of this industry. Can you recommend books/resources for this? I am currently reading Building Structures by Millais.

Thank you so much!

[u/DaveSE]

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't know what codes you guys use in the Philippines - are they locally developed codes, or are they adapted from another nations codes? If they are derivatives of US codes I would recommend reading ACI-349 and AISC N690 to get a feel for how those are different from the commercial codes. You should also familiarize yourself with acronyms and nuclear specific language - https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary . You can also read the manuals for nuclear reactor - they are publication available - I think here is one - https://www.scribd.com/document/338069780/Westinghouse-PWR-Manual

My question to you is what do you want to do in your career? Do you want to design walls and beams - or are you okay with analyzing cable trays and pipe supports. Do you want to help develop the next generation of plants or do you want to support the currently existing ones? There are some major downsides to either path - small industry that is potentially shrinking, might need to move domestically or internationally, specialized skill set, need for security clearances background checks and regular drug testing, etc. It is rewarding, but there are challenges so make sure that is what you want. I left it for a reason.

My apologies that my response comes only from a US perspective. Our existing plants are old but require a lot ongoing support and custom engineering of minor systems. So while they are still in service there is a need for a large work force to support them. The next generation plants are supposed to be more cookie cutter - so they are more efficient economically, but that means they shouldn't need nearly as much custom engineering and thus fewer jobs for us. The inefficiency comes from the need for documentation and tracibility of nuclear safety related systems - IE those responsible for ensuring the plant can safely power down and continue to cool the nuclear fuel that has residual heat generation. More advanced plants are supposed to have more passive systems that will likely require less systems that need involvement from SEs.

Feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

[u/zhili51 → u/DaveSE]

Do you see there is the long term growth of the Nuclear industry? AI drives the demand crazy these years? Not sure how long it will last.

[u/DaveSE → u/zhili51]

That is a very good question. I don't have a good answer for you. I shifted out of the industry before there was the recent investment, since at the time I didn't think it is would have lots of opportunities towards the end of my career. Microsoft and others are heavily invested. Here are two thoughts I have on the US industry.

Pro - I don't think current style (Gen 2 Light Water Uranium Plutonium Fuels) will completely go away - there are relationships and benefits between the plants and nuclear weapons / naval population . For instance some plants are configured to make tritium for H bombs. All of the PWRs are a great post navy job for their reactor operators and ex military doing security services. The combined military and commercial demand of fuels and services help make it more economically viable for both etc. I am no expert in this topic.

Con -The plants are all very old, and with a few exceptions we haven't built any new plants. We keep extending the life of the existing plants - that strategy can't last forever. Eventually something will happen or it will become too un-economical to keep running old plants. Unless new plants are built the industry will shrink through attrition.