Nuclear engineers harness the strongest forces of nature to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges. Our curriculum gives students depth and breadth to keep up with rapidly changing technology, and our close-knit learning community supports our students' success during their degree and as they launch their careers. The radiation sciences option provides a pathway for careers in medical applications of radiation.<br><br>Nuclear energy is the largest source of clean electricity in the United States and new technologies will allow its impact to grow as we decarbonize our economy. Most nuclear engineers design, build, and operate nuclear power plants — today based on fission of uranium, but in the future, based on fusion of hydrogen. With no greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear energy is a reliable and predictable partner to other clean electricity, like wind, solar, and hydro. Nuclear power sources have even more potential as new technologies and are deployed to remove carbon emissions from industrial processes like hydrogen production, water desalination, and steel manufacturing.<br><br>Today’s rovers on Mars are powered by nuclear power sources and tomorrow’s spacecraft will need nuclear power to transport humans far into space. Nuclear engineers build radioisotope thermal generators that provide nonstop power with no moving parts to deep-space probes and planetary vehicles, allowing missions that last for many years. Nuclear space propulsion cuts the travel time to other planets by months and surface power ensures reliable energy once the spacecraft lands.<br><br>Using advanced radiation detection systems, we can seek out explosives and nuclear weapons being smuggled in shipping containers. Nuclear engineers combine sources and detectors that use penetrating radiation that not only can see objects through thick shields but can also determine the composition of the items inside. Additionally, they use machine learning and artificial intelligence to combine the signals from these systems for even more insight.