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Engineering Online

NE 504 Radiation Safety and Shielding

3 Credit Hours

Radiation sources commonly encountered in nuclear applications; attenuation of gamma rays and neutrons; simplified methods for radiation transport including point kernel methods and uncollided dose; definitions of dose quantities and response functions; buildup factors and methods for dose computation.

Prerequisite

NE 301 Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering (C or better), or NE 419 Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, or instructor pre-approval.

Course Objectives

First the student is introduced to the fundamental concepts and quantities used to characterize radiation fields. The remainder of the course covers the three components comprising a typical shielding design/analysis problem:

  1. Common radiation sources: their strength and spectral characteristics;
  2. Dose calculation: quantifying the effect of radiation on the target material;
  3. Radiation transport: simple methods including point-kernel, buildup factors, and geometric factors.

Course Requirements

Homework Assignments * 25%
Quizzes25%
Quizzes25%
Final Exam25%

* Late Homework Policy: Up to one week past due date: Grade reduced by 50%, No credit for homework submitted more than one week past the due date.

Textbook

J. Kenneth Shultis and Richard E. Faw, Radiation Shielding, American Nuclear Society (2000).

Updated: 06/19/2025