Nuclear Energy Courses

What is Nuclear Energy?

Nuclear energy uses nuclear power plants to produce electricity and energy for the surrounding area. It uses nuclear reactions to provide heat, which powers steam turbines in energy plants to produce energy required. The United States, as well as many other nations of the world, use these nuclear reactors to build a sustainable energy grid and support other energy sources like natural gas or solar power. Nuclear energy is a relatively clean energy, provided no disasters take place. However, dealing with some nuclear waste and malfunctions in nuclear reactors that cause large scale disasters (think Fukushima most recently) have led us to rethink the way we handle the nuclear industry. Nuclear can help reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels but comes with its own dangers. Understanding the process can put you on a path to safer, more efficient renewable energy through nuclear energy.

Learn about Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is still a viable pathway to sustainable energy grids across the world, but new research can help make it safer and more reliable. Learning what you need to know about the physics of energy production and the implementation of nuclear energy in the real world can get you started on a career or better equip you to advocate for your community. EdX.org offers courses and certifications designed to help introduce you to the foundational concepts of nuclear energy. You'll learn from courses created by leaders in the field and use your understanding to build a career or advocacy platform.

Nuclear Energy Courses and Certifications

Delft University of Technology offers a course, Understanding Nuclear Energy, that can teach you the foundational concepts of what's happening in those reactors. You'll learn the science nuclear fission chain reactions, the steps behind nuclear fuel cycles, and the operating principles of nuclear reactors that allow electricity generation. You can also explore MIT's course, Nuclear Energy: Science, Systems, and Society. It offers a look at nuclear fusion and atomic energy that produces the world's electricity as well as what goes into reactor design. You can also explore the background radiation in your own backyard. The University of Queensland offers a course in Low Emission Technologies and Supply Systems designed to provide an overview of energy systems with nuclear energy in a broader context. It also provides a look at energy policies and how they shape the nuclear technologies we have now.

Explore Career Choices in Nuclear Energy

From plutonium to uranium and everything that goes into power generation, edX can provide foundational support for the knowledge you'll need to build a career or advocacy path. You'll learn what goes into nuclear safety and implementing nuclear energy on a large scale. Once you've built your understanding, you understand better the nuclear power reactors in your back yard and the regulations required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. You can help make nuclear accidents a thing of the past and figure out what to do with the byproducts of fission.