Nuclear Engineering
Nuclear engineering begins with nuclear matter, and UC Berkeley researchers literally created that field. From the invention of the cyclotron particle accelerator to the discovery of multiple elements on the periodic table, the history of nuclear innovation at Berkeley is unrivaled. Then-Chancellor and Nobel laureate Glenn Seaborg founded the Department of Nuclear Engineering in 1958 to advance the study of nuclear science and energy. Today the department leads the research and development in areas ranging from the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to developing medical imaging, to diagnosing and combating chronic diseases. The department remains essential to the campus’ mission to serve California, the United States and the world.
Did you know?
- Berkeley nuclear engineers developed methods to probe the mechanical integrity of a nuclear reactor by using probes the size of a human blood cell.
- Nuclear engineers at Berkeley are leading the development of advanced reactors. They founded a startup company to design and build a new kind of reactor that is safer and more efficient than conventional reactors.
- Berkeley heads the multi-institution Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, which focuses on research that supports nuclear science, national security and nuclear nonproliferation. It consists of eight universities and five national laboratories.
per FTE faculty
Engineering members
Bethany Goldblum
M.S.’05, Ph.D.’07 NE, associate professor of nuclear engineering
Anti-radiation pills for MRI patients
Nuclear engineers developed an anti-radiation- poisoning pill using a “chelator” designed to remove radioactive contaminants from the body. They’re now studying how that very same pill could help protect people from the potential toxicity of something else— the long-term retention of gadolinium, a critical ingredient widely used in gadolinium-based contrast dyes for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans. Animal studies have shown that, when given the chelation drug right before or right after an MRI, the researchers can prevent up to 96% of the gadolinium dye from depositing.
Bringing out the
science of war games
A first-of-its-kind online game is revolutionizing the field of war-gaming. Developed by Berkeley researchers in collaboration with colleagues from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, this multi-player video game was custom-built to explore how nuclear weapons influence decision-making in a conflict. Researchers leveraged state-of-the-art game engines and Amazon’s cloud computing platform to develop an online, multi-player game that can examine the dynamics of nuclear deterrence and conflict escalation by collecting data from thousands of games.
