Nuclear Engineering?
Biology then medical school. Nuclear engineering is for when you want to work with radiative devices and applciations such as nuclear reactors, and such. It does cover some radio-isotope stuff that is used in cardiology, but its over kill yeah.
Nuclear Engineering Degree?
basically because you have a nuclear engineering degree does no longer mean you would be compelled to nuclear skill, nor might it save you from being an airdale. To be the CO of an airplane provider one can be an airdale, no longer a skimmer officer. i've got been instructed that it has to do with no longer wanting a battlewagon officer treating a airplane provider as a battleship, yet as a launch and restoration platform for the airplane, and as a conflict group flagship. Aviator officers in the chain of command of the provider could attend a Senior Officer classification of nuclear skill education. So, in a around approximately way all senior aviators could have nuclear skill education besides.
Nuclear Engineering College?
How interesting that you're considering Penn State because that's where I got my Mechanical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering Degrees from. My opinion may be biased, but my experience was that Penn State is a great school for either of the majors. I heard the same thing from my friends and family about Penn State being a mediocre school, but they were 100% wrong, plain and simple. Penn State gets a lot of money from industry and has strong ties to Westinghouse, which is one of the world's largest producers of nuclear power related goods. The faculty is also top notch and you won't just sail through to get your degree. It will be hard work, which translates into a superior education. And industry knows this; that's why 1 out of every 20 working nuclear engineers got their degrees from Penn State. PSU is also awesome for social reasons; especially during football season. Besides that, I wouldn't be too worried about picking the perfect school because the bottom line is that the nuclear industry is making a big comeback and the industry will be hiring like crazy. Since PSU is so close to you, I think it's your wisest choice. Don't just take my word for it, though, contact some of the professors there. If you're interested in the thermal hydraulics end, Dr. Hochreiter is a good guy to talk to. Also, I'd recommend doing the double major in nuclear and mechanical engineering they offer. You only have to take 20 extra credits (about an extra semester depending how you gauge your time there) and you come out with two separate degrees. Not to mention it really beefs up your understanding of the nuclear engineering field. If you want to get your masters also, you just have to keep your grades up and you'll be guarenteed to go for free and actually get paid for doing research or teaching a class (last time I checked it was $1,600 per month). I will say that Penn State tends to focus on nuclear power as opposed to space reactors, nuclear medicine, nuclear fusion, etc. However, there are some good professors here that do nuclear science and transport theory, but in undergraduate you will spend most time learning about the power industry and Generation III reactor designs; although, no matter what school you go to, most of undergraduate will be spent learning basics that can be applied to all areas of focus. I'd consider setting up a meeting with the department if you're still unsure.
Nuclear Engineering vs. Nuclear Physics?
Ok, I don't know what schools are good at this stuff. That's up to you to research. But I can tell you the difference between a nuclear engineer and a nuclear physicist, which will answer your 1 and 4 questions. A nuclear engineer designs and builds things that involve nuclear energy. Things like power stations and reactors for boats. They probably do stuff with weapons as well. And things like uranium enrichment. A nuclear physicist examines the forces that play a role in holding a nucleus together. At this point, the field of nuclear physics has become the field of particle or high energy physics, meaning that they have moved beyond nuclear forces into higher energy scales or smaller size scales. A nuclear physicist is not going to be interested in nuclear powerplants or weapons. That type of nuclear physics was discovered 70 years ago and is no longer of interest to any physicist. So if you want to do that, you want to be a nuclear engineer. These two careers are actually much more different than their titles would have you believe. The only reason they sound similar is because they both center around the nucleus of atoms. But one takes very simple nuclear concepts and applies them to real world devices. The other explores very complicated nuclear concepts that have no practical application to devises (at least not yet). As far as what you want to major in, you should major in nuclear engineering if you want to do that and major in physics if you want to do nuclear physics.
Do nuclear engineering have scope in future?
If you are talking about the future of nuclear power in regard to its use for electric generation to supply the electrical demand of the United States, well, in my estimation, forget about it. As you may know, nuclear power for the purpose of electric generation died in the US nearly 25 years ago, after the Three Mile Island and Chenobyl disasters, lack of a nuclear waste management transportation and storage plan, and lack of a workable Evacuation plan. President Obama tried to revive nuclear power, shortly after he was elected, as a means, combined with renewable energy resources such as wind and solar, to reduce our dependence on the fossil fuels and save the environment. However, there is still no workable Waste Management or emergency Evacuation plans, even after some 50+ years of nuclear power in this country. And the Japan tragedy has put yet another nail in its coffin. It's comeback in the US is very unlikely in the foreseeable future. And with wind power also being opposed, and Solar power not quite there yet, coal and gas will continue to dominate as the fuels of choice. In other countries, most notably China, up to now, nuclear power has been still very much alive, but i don't know how the Japan disaster will affect this. Of course, nuclear engineering is not all about nuclear generation.. nuclear medicine for example...others may be able to respond in these other uses.
Nuclear Engineering as a career?
I am Mechanical Engineer but not in the Nuclear dicipline. I am currently unemployed due to the economy . In my searches for work, I run across a lot of jobs looking for Engineers in the Nuclear field. So the answer is go into Mechanical Engineering. I remember taking a nulcear course or two in school. You could be designing structures to keep the radiation in safe containment shells. As far as starting salaries are , go to www.Indeed.com and select Salaries. I just entered Nuclear Engineer and over 4000 jobs popped up. Either type in Mechanical or Nuclear. Or you can Google Mechanical Enigneering Salaries. My guess is that new grads are commanding around $ 50 k or better. Right now , due to the economy, it's a Company's market indicating they can be as picky as they choose to be, when selecting candidates. Good grades will get you an edge right out of school. After that, it's specialized experience that will get you into the door of another company, College choice only matters if the company hiring has a particular thing for a particular college. And maybe due to the locatio of the school relative to where the company is located. After that , all they look for is that you attended an accredited college. ( ABET). I suspect, right now, that younger candidates would have a better chance since they usually ask for a lot less than experienced people. Plus their medical requirements tax the companies medical insurance less than older people. Best if you went to Indeed.com and left the states open as to where the jobs are. If you want to see which states are asking for Nuclear engineers and to make this project a little more involved, enter the states one by one and see what kind of head count you get for each state. That way you get the entire cross section of the US. I see requirements in SC along rivers. Makes sense . Hope this was enough to get you started. Good luck
Being a nuclear engineer is not particularly hazardous. They spend most of their time working at a desk. Sometimes they go into the plant, but radiation protection is carefully practiced. On a daily basis they get no radiation exposure from their job. On an annual basis the average worker at a nuclear power plant in the US gets less than 100 mrem TEDE. Their annual limit is 5000 rem, so they get less than 2% of their limit. It is extraordinarily rare for anyone to get a large exposure at a plant, and it usually isn't a nuclear engineer. It is more likely to be a radiation protection tech or an operator.Radiation leaks almost never go undetected. There are so many monitors, including the individual ones that all the workers have to wear, that it is almost unthinkable that an exposure would go undetected. Sometimes it is only detected after the fact by their personal dosimeter.
There's a huge demand for engineers in general, not just nuclear engineers.Though, if you're going to school for the explicit reason of becoming a nuclear engineer, you best bet that you'll also need a PhD. There is 0 positions for nuclear engineers (note: engineers, not technicians) with bachelors degrees- in the nuclear field…though many nuclear technicians have BS in nuclear engineering or technology (BSNE, BSNT, BSNTE).Though, you'll find that you can work in many fields with a nuclear engineering degree- including cryogenics (the field in which I currently work), finance, insurance, automotive, areoflight (I had anoffer from spaceX), design, and so many more.These days, most anyone with “engineering” in their degree, can find a job. Just not always in their intended field.