This course is designed to give an in-depth, practical knowledge of the nuclear fuel cycle from the metallurgy of Uranium to the disposition of spent reactor fuel. It will provide details of current and future nuclear reactor designs for the generation of electricity, their life cycle and decommissioning. This course will not only provide a comprehensive study of the traditional fuel cycle (the Uranium/Plutonium once-through cycle), but it will also discuss the closure of the nuclear fuel cycle as well as fuel cycles that may be the future of nuclear power, such as the Thorium fuel cycle. The course also provides an introduction to the principles and practices of waste management and disposal. Case studies will be used to demonstrate the principles of life cycle management and decommissioning.

The prerequisites for this course are ENGG9741 Introduction to Nuclear Engineering and ENGG9742 Reactor Physics for Engineers. They are prerequisites as both courses identify and detail the primary mechanisms occuring in reactors hence the processes by which fuel is used, the products of fuel burn-up and the generation of waste materials.