Master Year 2 Nuclear Engineering
Year | Master Year 2 |
Program | Nuclear Engineering |
ECTS Credits | 60 |
Language | English |
Orientation | Research or Industry |
Location | Palaiseau Campus, Institut national des sciences et techniques nucléaires (CEA), CentraleSupélec, ChimieParisTech, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech |
Course duration | 12 months, full time |
Course start | September |
Degree awarded | Master’s degree |
WHY ENROLL IN THIS PROGRAM?
The nuclear sector is the third-largest industrial sector in France. It brings together 2,500 companies with nearly 220,000 employees and generates revenues of €50 billion according to the General Directorate of Companies of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The nuclear industry is the fourth largest innovative industry with 1.3 billion euros of investment per year. With 58 reactors spread over 19 nuclear sites, France has the largest nuclear fleet in the world in proportion to its population. Unlike other generating industries, the nuclear industry offers sustainable, skilled, and “non-relocation” jobs.
France controls the entire nuclear production value chain, which allows a greater proportion of jobs to be captured. The number of specialized training courses has increased sharply in recent years: nearly 70 have been registered in France since 2010. The number of skilled engineers graduating per year has increased threefold in four years. More and more foreign students are taking part in the training courses, especially from countries wishing to increase their nuclear electricity production or access this type of production.
The Master Nuclear Engineering benefits not only from high-level field experts as faculty members but also from strong industrial partners, in particular EDF, and institutional partnerships with key French national research agencies.
The Master Nuclear Engineering is an international Master's degree, whose objective is to provide high‐level foreign and French students with the main knowledge necessary for the nuclear industry producing low‐carbon electricity. Through the quality and scope of the content processed, it makes it possible to meet a wide spectrum of the needs of companies in this field by recruiting students with high initial employability. This Master's degree also aims to prepare students for research in the nuclear field (e. g. Reactor Physics, Modeling and Simulation, Instrumentation, Radiochemistry). The entire Master's degree therefore addresses the different professions in civil nuclear energy. Its teaching is entirely provided in English.
The second year is splitted in five tracks:
The educational objective of this track is to provide in-depth training in the field of nuclear reactor physics: existing reactor operations, developing and installing third-generation reactors and, designing and developing future Generation IV systems. These objectives require a systematic and overall vision to provide a grasp of the whole dimension of civil nuclear power. Indeed, reactor-related studies generally imply a strong coupling between thermohydraulics, neutronics, reactor materials and fuel.
The educational objective of this track is to give students a deep education in the field of design and construction of nuclear installations, particularly in the fields of safety monitoring, general operation, structures and infrastructures as well as systems and equipments. It involves the understanding of physical phenomena, which underlie the operation of nuclear reactors. Students are initiated to the main codes of structures calculation, nuclear reactor operation, radiation protection concepts related to the protection of man and his environment. This track aims to give students a complete skill in the Nuclear Energy field, not only technical, but also economical, organizational and managerial.
The courses in this major enable students to learn how to operate and maintain safely and efficiently nuclear facilities, in particular an electro-nuclear power plant. The courses provide students with a strong knowledge of the physical phenomena developed in the plant during nominal operation, non-nominal conditions which affect safe operation. Students are trained on the procedures needed to keep or recover the safe state of operation of systems and ensure protection of people and the environment. Organizational and managerial skills will complement deep technical competence.
The educational objective of this track is to give the knowledge needed for the various stages of the fuel cycle; with a particular focus on separation and transmutation. Recent advances in this area are leading to a revolution in the approach to the reactor cycle by introducing the notion of recycling and incineration of the minor actinides. The vision of the Fuel Cycle integrates the confinement of radio nuclides prior to storage, the development of new materials and the understanding of chemical mechanisms and geochemistry, which govern the evolution of storage. The basic research concepts that are necessary to develop processes and design new industrial equipment and tools are introduced. The Fuel Cycle major has a dynamic approach where education, R&D, development and industrial engineering are strongly correlated.
The educational objectives of this track are to give the necessary knowledge for the decommissioning of old nuclear facilities and management of waste. It covers all procedures needed to ensure the safety of people and environment.
After graduating from the Nuclear Engineering Master’s program, students will be equipped to build a career in the nuclear energy industry, in particular, the operation of electronuclear power plants:
- Track NPD: Research and development, design, construction, consulting offices, research in higher education.
- Track DWM: Consultant engineer (define the nature and stages of decommissioning or devise storage during the decommission), implementation engineer (direct and oversee on-site operations), operations engineer for waste storage facilities, project engineer in charge of decommissioning operations, safety engineer responsible for setting onsite regulations for waste management
- Track FC: Engineer (at a raw uranium production site or factory involved in fuel cycle: refinement, enrichment or recycling); design, engineer, operate and monitor waste storage sites and nuclear power plant operations
- Track NRPE: Engineer in the nuclear sector, researcher in the field of nuclear reactors
- Track O: Operations engineer, head of operations, safety engineer, head of maintenance or environmental process engineer
Safety and risk management
Introduction to Safety. Criticality-Safety |
24h 3 ECTS English |
Radiation Protection |
28.5h 3 ECTS English |
Risk Management (track NRPE is not concerned by this course) |
30h 4 ECTS English |
Electricity production : tools, needs and capacities
PWR Functional Description |
24h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Fuel Cycles. Nuclear Reactor Systems |
27h 3 ECTS English |
Energy transition and flexibility |
15h 2 ECTS English |
Internship
20 weeks (minimum) - 18 ECTS
Reactor physics 1
Thermal-hydraulics |
33h 4 ECTS English |
Neutronics 1 |
39h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Materials |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Physics |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Reactor physics 2
Reactor Physics and Simulation |
27h 2 ECTS English |
Multiphysics & Uncertainties |
15h 2 ECTS English |
Advanced Thermal-hydraulics |
36h 4 ECTS English |
Neutronics 2 |
60h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear reactor physics and operation
Nuclear Physics and Neutronics |
27h 3 ECTS English |
Thermal-hydraulics |
33h 4 ECTS English |
Calculation code |
30h 3 ECTS English |
System. & equipment |
39h 4 ECTS English |
Mechanical engineering and design for nuclear power plants
Material Physics Concrete |
24h 2 ECTS English |
From seismology to earthquake engineering |
27h 2 ECTS English |
Numerical –Design |
33h 3 ECTS English |
Design |
24h 2 ECTS English |
Material Physics Corrosion |
12h 1 ECTS English |
Basics Reactor Physics
Nuclear Physics and Neutronics |
27h 3 ECTS English |
Thermal-hydraulics |
33h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Safety in Operation
Operation management |
30h 3 ECTS English |
Control-command and code simulation |
51h 4.5 ECTS English |
Maintenance |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Safety and production |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Non Destructive Testing |
12h 1.5 ECTS English |
Safety and risk management
Introduction to Nuclear Physics, Neutronics |
24h 2 ECTS English |
Cooling & Molten salt |
21h 3 ECTS English |
Actinides electronic structure and spectroscopy |
12h 2 ECTS English |
Electricity Production : tools, needs and capacities
Fuel : from mine to the reactor |
21h 3 ECTS English |
Separation and recycling
|
33h 4 ECTS English |
Process simulation & process control
|
31h 3 ECTS English |
Waste disposal |
33h 3 ECTS English |
Waste containment materials
|
27h 3 ECTS English |
Decommissioning Waste management principles and methodology
Introduction to Nuclear Physics, Neutronics |
24h 2 ECTS English |
Dismantling and decommissioning nuclear facitities |
49h 5 ECTS English |
Politics, strategy, management decommissioning |
39h 5 ECTS English |
Decommissioning Waste management: applications
Calculation codes 1 |
18h 2 ECTS English |
Calculation codes 2 |
27h 2 ECTS English |
Methods of decommissioning |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Waste managment |
51h 4 ECTS English |
Admission requirements
Academic prerequisites
- Track NRPE: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Chemistry or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track NPD: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track O: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track FC: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Chemistry or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track DWM: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering).
Language prerequisites
English
How to apply
Applications can be submitted exclusively online. You will need to provide the following documents:
- Transcript
- Two academic references (added online directly by your referees)
- CV/resume
- Statement of purpose
You will receive an answer in your candidate space within 2 months of the closing date for the application session.
Fees and scholarships
Registration fees are available here
Find out more about scholarships
Please note that fees and scholarships may change for the following year.
Applications and admission dates
Coordinator
Program office
General enquiries
Accreditation
Our program is accredited by I2EN and EIT InnoEnergy
Main Industrial partner
EDF gave the initial impetus for the creation of our formation in 2009 and financially supported it. It is important to know that for helping student EDF scholarships are possible.
The EDF Group, one of the main actors in the French electricity market, enjoys strong positions in Europe making it one of the world’s leading electricians and a recognized gas player. It is also present in the design and manufacture of equipment and fuels for nuclear reactors and has one of the largest production fleets in the world. The EDF Group participates in the supply of energy and services to 39.8 million customer sites worldwide. He is one of the quality partners of the Master Nuclear Energy in the framework of the partnership «Science & Teaching» program with the “Institut de France”. EDF remains one of the companies that recruits the most in France.
External hires are focused on the core business, and technical recruitments are becoming very predominant = nearly 70% of all recruitments.
The professional families that recruit the most are in particular those of distribution and network management, nuclear exploitation, project management, and IT professions.
The development of digital technology, an ambition enshrined in the CAP2030 objective, requires the recruitment of employees with a strong IT culture, who can contribute to projects by specializing in cyber security, big data, or the management of industrial computer projects.
Other Partners
- Framatome
- ORANO
- CEA
- QSSYSTEM
- ANDRA
- IRSN
The Master Nuclear Engineering is an international Master's degree, whose objective is to provide high‐level foreign and French students with the main knowledge necessary for the nuclear industry producing low‐carbon electricity. Through the quality and scope of the content processed, it makes it possible to meet a wide spectrum of the needs of companies in this field by recruiting students with high initial employability. This Master's degree also aims to prepare students for research in the nuclear field (e. g. Reactor Physics, Modeling and Simulation, Instrumentation, Radiochemistry). The entire Master's degree therefore addresses the different professions in civil nuclear energy. Its teaching is entirely provided in English.
The second year is splitted in five tracks:
The educational objective of this track is to provide in-depth training in the field of nuclear reactor physics: existing reactor operations, developing and installing third-generation reactors and, designing and developing future Generation IV systems. These objectives require a systematic and overall vision to provide a grasp of the whole dimension of civil nuclear power. Indeed, reactor-related studies generally imply a strong coupling between thermohydraulics, neutronics, reactor materials and fuel.
The educational objective of this track is to give students a deep education in the field of design and construction of nuclear installations, particularly in the fields of safety monitoring, general operation, structures and infrastructures as well as systems and equipments. It involves the understanding of physical phenomena, which underlie the operation of nuclear reactors. Students are initiated to the main codes of structures calculation, nuclear reactor operation, radiation protection concepts related to the protection of man and his environment. This track aims to give students a complete skill in the Nuclear Energy field, not only technical, but also economical, organizational and managerial.
The courses in this major enable students to learn how to operate and maintain safely and efficiently nuclear facilities, in particular an electro-nuclear power plant. The courses provide students with a strong knowledge of the physical phenomena developed in the plant during nominal operation, non-nominal conditions which affect safe operation. Students are trained on the procedures needed to keep or recover the safe state of operation of systems and ensure protection of people and the environment. Organizational and managerial skills will complement deep technical competence.
The educational objective of this track is to give the knowledge needed for the various stages of the fuel cycle; with a particular focus on separation and transmutation. Recent advances in this area are leading to a revolution in the approach to the reactor cycle by introducing the notion of recycling and incineration of the minor actinides. The vision of the Fuel Cycle integrates the confinement of radio nuclides prior to storage, the development of new materials and the understanding of chemical mechanisms and geochemistry, which govern the evolution of storage. The basic research concepts that are necessary to develop processes and design new industrial equipment and tools are introduced. The Fuel Cycle major has a dynamic approach where education, R&D, development and industrial engineering are strongly correlated.
The educational objectives of this track are to give the necessary knowledge for the decommissioning of old nuclear facilities and management of waste. It covers all procedures needed to ensure the safety of people and environment.
After graduating from the Nuclear Engineering Master’s program, students will be equipped to build a career in the nuclear energy industry, in particular, the operation of electronuclear power plants:
- Track NPD: Research and development, design, construction, consulting offices, research in higher education.
- Track DWM: Consultant engineer (define the nature and stages of decommissioning or devise storage during the decommission), implementation engineer (direct and oversee on-site operations), operations engineer for waste storage facilities, project engineer in charge of decommissioning operations, safety engineer responsible for setting onsite regulations for waste management
- Track FC: Engineer (at a raw uranium production site or factory involved in fuel cycle: refinement, enrichment or recycling); design, engineer, operate and monitor waste storage sites and nuclear power plant operations
- Track NRPE: Engineer in the nuclear sector, researcher in the field of nuclear reactors
- Track O: Operations engineer, head of operations, safety engineer, head of maintenance or environmental process engineer
Safety and risk management
Introduction to Safety. Criticality-Safety |
24h 3 ECTS English |
Radiation Protection |
28.5h 3 ECTS English |
Risk Management (track NRPE is not concerned by this course) |
30h 4 ECTS English |
Electricity production : tools, needs and capacities
PWR Functional Description |
24h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Fuel Cycles. Nuclear Reactor Systems |
27h 3 ECTS English |
Energy transition and flexibility |
15h 2 ECTS English |
Internship
20 weeks (minimum) - 18 ECTS
Reactor physics 1
Thermal-hydraulics |
33h 4 ECTS English |
Neutronics 1 |
39h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Materials |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Physics |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Reactor physics 2
Reactor Physics and Simulation |
27h 2 ECTS English |
Multiphysics & Uncertainties |
15h 2 ECTS English |
Advanced Thermal-hydraulics |
36h 4 ECTS English |
Neutronics 2 |
60h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear reactor physics and operation
Nuclear Physics and Neutronics |
27h 3 ECTS English |
Thermal-hydraulics |
33h 4 ECTS English |
Calculation code |
30h 3 ECTS English |
System. & equipment |
39h 4 ECTS English |
Mechanical engineering and design for nuclear power plants
Material Physics Concrete |
24h 2 ECTS English |
From seismology to earthquake engineering |
27h 2 ECTS English |
Numerical –Design |
33h 3 ECTS English |
Design |
24h 2 ECTS English |
Material Physics Corrosion |
12h 1 ECTS English |
Basics Reactor Physics
Nuclear Physics and Neutronics |
27h 3 ECTS English |
Thermal-hydraulics |
33h 4 ECTS English |
Nuclear Safety in Operation
Operation management |
30h 3 ECTS English |
Control-command and code simulation |
51h 4.5 ECTS English |
Maintenance |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Safety and production |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Non Destructive Testing |
12h 1.5 ECTS English |
Safety and risk management
Introduction to Nuclear Physics, Neutronics |
24h 2 ECTS English |
Cooling & Molten salt |
21h 3 ECTS English |
Actinides electronic structure and spectroscopy |
12h 2 ECTS English |
Electricity Production : tools, needs and capacities
Fuel : from mine to the reactor |
21h 3 ECTS English |
Separation and recycling
|
33h 4 ECTS English |
Process simulation & process control
|
31h 3 ECTS English |
Waste disposal |
33h 3 ECTS English |
Waste containment materials
|
27h 3 ECTS English |
Decommissioning Waste management principles and methodology
Introduction to Nuclear Physics, Neutronics |
24h 2 ECTS English |
Dismantling and decommissioning nuclear facitities |
49h 5 ECTS English |
Politics, strategy, management decommissioning |
39h 5 ECTS English |
Decommissioning Waste management: applications
Calculation codes 1 |
18h 2 ECTS English |
Calculation codes 2 |
27h 2 ECTS English |
Methods of decommissioning |
42h 4 ECTS English |
Waste managment |
51h 4 ECTS English |
Admission requirements
Academic prerequisites
- Track NRPE: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Chemistry or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track NPD: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track O: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track FC: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Chemistry or Nuclear Engineering).
- Track DWM: Students from university with science courses, in France or abroad, having validated 60 ECTS (Master of Science of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical or Nuclear Engineering).
Language prerequisites
English
How to apply
Applications can be submitted exclusively online. You will need to provide the following documents:
- Transcript
- Two academic references (added online directly by your referees)
- CV/resume
- Statement of purpose
You will receive an answer in your candidate space within 2 months of the closing date for the application session.
Fees and scholarships
Registration fees are available here
Find out more about scholarships
Please note that fees and scholarships may change for the following year.
Applications and admission dates
Coordinator
Program office
General enquiries
Accreditation
Our program is accredited by I2EN and EIT InnoEnergy
Main Industrial partner
EDF gave the initial impetus for the creation of our formation in 2009 and financially supported it. It is important to know that for helping student EDF scholarships are possible.
The EDF Group, one of the main actors in the French electricity market, enjoys strong positions in Europe making it one of the world’s leading electricians and a recognized gas player. It is also present in the design and manufacture of equipment and fuels for nuclear reactors and has one of the largest production fleets in the world. The EDF Group participates in the supply of energy and services to 39.8 million customer sites worldwide. He is one of the quality partners of the Master Nuclear Energy in the framework of the partnership «Science & Teaching» program with the “Institut de France”. EDF remains one of the companies that recruits the most in France.
External hires are focused on the core business, and technical recruitments are becoming very predominant = nearly 70% of all recruitments.
The professional families that recruit the most are in particular those of distribution and network management, nuclear exploitation, project management, and IT professions.
The development of digital technology, an ambition enshrined in the CAP2030 objective, requires the recruitment of employees with a strong IT culture, who can contribute to projects by specializing in cyber security, big data, or the management of industrial computer projects.
Other Partners
- Framatome
- ORANO
- CEA
- QSSYSTEM
- ANDRA
- IRSN