Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT

Robley D. Evans offers the very first nuclear physics class at MIT; in 1955, he launches “Nuclear Physics for Engineers.”

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover visits MIT to arrange a master’s track in nuclear science for naval officers.

Course XXII, Nuclear Engineering, is launched within the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Manson Benedict (1907–2006) becomes MIT’s first professor of nuclear engineering. Benedict was a seminal figure in the development of the field of nuclear science and engineering. A veteran of the Manhattan Project, he later became the first head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering.

Project Dynamo is launched to study the potential benefits of using a nuclear reactor for civilian electric power.

Gordon Brownell invents the first positron-imaging machine, a key step toward positron emission tomography, an imaging technique still in use today.

The launch of Project Separation to explore alternative processes for recovering uranium and plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel.

MIT approves the construction of an on-campus nuclear reactor for research purposes. Designed by Theodore Thompson, MITR-1 begins operations in 1958.

MIT launches a doctoral program in nuclear engineering; the first degrees are awarded in 1958.

Nuclear Engineering officially becomes a department.

Working with the MIT Center for Space Research, Nuclear Engineering faculty help create a hydrogen-cooled reactor for the propulsion of space vehicles.

ALCATOR plasma experiment begins operations at the Francis Bitter Magnet Lab.

David Rose teaches the Department’s first class on sustainable energy.

Course XXII begins offering a full undergraduate program. The first BS is awarded in 1977.

Norman Rasmussen leads the landmark ‘WASH-1400’ study, the first application of probabilistic risk assessment to reactor safety.

MITR-2 begins operating. The redesigned reactor has a more compact core and is cooled by light water.

Lawrence M. Lidsky serves as director of a new Plasma Fusion Center that provides support for ALCATOR and many other projects.

Richard Lester directs the Nuclear Power Plant Innovation Project, an exploration of the role of new design concepts in making nuclear power more competitive.

David Lanning and Michael Golay oversee the first “Reactor Technology Program for Utility Executives,” a five-week summer course.

x is formed to coordinate emerging research on nuclear power reactors and fuel cycles.

MIT publishes “The Future of Nuclear Power,” a major report on the challenges of scaling up the global nuclear power industry.

The Department changes its name to Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

MIT is selected as a lead partner in the Nuclear Energy Innovation Hub, a new DOE initiative to advance light water reactor design and engineering.

MIT study on “The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle” is released. The study, led by Mujid Kazimi and Ernest Moniz, considers the key technical choices available for an expanded nuclear power program in the U.S.

NSE puts in place a new strategic plan that will extend its groundbreaking work in nuclear science and the engineering of nuclear systems, while also explicitly tying the department’s education and research to the interactions of nuclear technology with society.

New record for fusion — Alcator C-Mod tokamak nuclear fusion reactor sets world record on final day of operation.

MIT launches SPARC — a compact, high-field net fusion energy project in collaboration with MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

MIT study on “The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon Constrained World” is released. The study, led by Jacopo Buongiorno and John Parsons, makes recommendations for new policy models and cost-cutting technologies.

Investigators in the MIT Energy Initiative and the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center found that, depending on its future cost and performance fusion has the potential to be critically important to decarbonization.