DOE Utility Matching Program Final Technical Report

Authors

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsCharles W. BagnalCharles W. Bagnal Jr. (BS, nuclear engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1980) is a consulting engineer at GRP Consulting, Inc., currently engaged in reactor physics methods development and nuclear engineering support services. He has been involved in nuclear reactor design analysis and software development for six years. His experience includes advanced light water reactor (LWR) and heavy water reactor designs, including extended burnup fuel cycles using gadolinia burnable poison.Gerard P. CavanaughGerard P. Cavanaugh (BS, physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1969; MS, 1970, and PhD, 1976, nuclear engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) worked from 1973 to 1975 in the Neutronics Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is currently supervisor of radiation physics and criticality analysis at Combustion Engineering, Inc. (C-E). His primary technical interests are in the areas of radiation transport, stochastic sampling methodologies, and computer applications ranging from mainframes to personal computers.Robert P. HarrisRobert P. Harris (BS, 1974, and MS, 1975, nuclear engineering, and MS, 1984, metallurgy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) has worked in the core design, safety analysis, and licensing of C-E pressurized water reactors since 1973. He is currently involved in the neutronic design of advanced burnable poisons and fuel assemblies. He consults in the areas of core fuel management, safety analysis, and startup physics testing.Regis A. MatzieRegis A. Matzie (BS, physics, U.S. Naval Academy, 1965; MS, 1971, and PhD, 1976, nuclear engineering, Stanford University) is currently the manager of analog plants in the nuclear engineering department at C-E. His current technical interests include advanced LWR designs, methods of improving fuel utilization and fuel cycle costs in current design LWRs, and alternate fuel cycles for advanced converter reactors.Laszlo B. TarkoLaszlo B. Tarko (BS, physics, University of Connecticut, 1980) is currently the lead engineer in the radiation physics group at C-E. His current technical interests include radiation transport, ex-core radiation physics, dose rates, energy deposition, and associated computer techniques.Howard OckenHoward Ocken (D. Eng., metallurgy, Yale University, 1966) is a project manager in the Nuclear Power Division of the Electric Power Research Institute. He has managed projects that addressed materials performance in nuclear core components. His current interests include materials aspects associated with reducing radiation fields, especially replacing cobalt sources and decontamination and preconditioning technology.Per Hedemann JensenPer Hedemann Jensen (BSc, electronic engineering, Technical University, Aarhus, Denmark, 1970) is a senior health physicist at Ris0 National Laboratory, where he is head of the Section for Applied Health Physics. He has been involved in studies of radiological consequences from hypothetical core-melt accidents at nuclear power plants. His current technical interest is experimental work on internal dosimetry problems.Ian J. HastingsIan J. Hastings (PhD, metallurgical science, University of Queensland, 1968) is head of the Fuel Properties and Behaviour Group in the Fuel Materials Branch at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL) of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. His current interests are in oxide fuel behavior under irradiation, particularly release of short-lived fission products under normal and accident conditions, and in fusion ceramics.Elio MizzanElio Mizzan (BA Sc, chemical engineering, University of Toronto, 1949) is a supervisor at the Fuel Materials Branch Hot Cell Facility at CRNL. His interests have been in the areas of postirradiation examination of reactor fuels and materials, particularly postdefect handling of spent U02 fuel.Alan M. RossAlan M. Ross (BSc, general, University of London, 1953) is a supervisor at the Recycle Fuel Fabrication Laboratories of the Fuel Materials Branch of CRNL. His interests include the fabrication, nondestructive assay, properties, irradiation behavior, and neutron radiography of current and advanced thermal reactor fuels.John R. KelmJohn R. Kelm is a research technician in the Fuel Materials Branch at CRNL. His research responsibility is the operation of a special project hot cell. His current interest is U02 oxidation and stress corrosion cracking.Real J. ChenierReal J. Chenier is a research technician in the Fuel Materials Branch at CRNL. His current research responsibility is operation of the postirradiation metallographic facilities.D. H. RoseD. H. Rose is a research technologist in the Fuel Properties and Behaviour Group of the Fuel Materials Branch at CRNL. His current responsibility is fabrication and operation of instrumented in-reactor experiments.J. NovakJ. Novak (BASc, engineering science, University of Toronto, 1974) is employed in Central Nuclear Services, Nuclear Generation Division of Ontario Hydro. Since 1976 he has been engaged in the areas of nuclear fuel production and development. His current technical interests include behavior of irradiated fuel in air, U02 powder characteristics, and fuel performance improvement.Claudio RonchiClaudio Ronchi (Dr. rer. nat. phys., State University, Milan, Italy, 1965) is a research officer at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission of European Communities. After having worked in the research and development of advanced fuels for fast breeders, he is now engaged in reactor safety studies.Jacques van de LaarJacques van de Laar (Ingenieur Fysische Techniek, H.T.S., Heerlen, The Netherlands, 1974) works in thec mathematical modeling department of JRC-Karlsruhe. He is currently involved in the development and execution of computer programs for reactor fuel performance and safety analysis.Hubert BlankHubert Blank (PhD, metal physics, Technical University of Stuttgart, 1957), head of the Physics Division of the European Institute for Transuranium Elements, Karlsruhe, has directed the “Swelling of Advanced Fuels” project at this institute since 1973.Tetsuo FukasawaTetsuo Fukasawa (BS, 1976; MS, 1978; and Dr. Eng., 1981, nuclear engineering, Tohoku University) is a researcher in the Energy Research Laboratory (ERL), Hitachi, Ltd. He has specialized in the radiochemistry of actinide elements and is currently working in the field of low-level radioactive waste treatment and spent fuel reprocessing.Koichi ChinoKoichi Chino (BS, 1972, and MS, 1974, mechanical engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology) is a researcher at ERL. His primary areas of interest are transport phenomena and radioactive waste management.Osamu KuriyamaOsamu Kuriyama (BS, 1973, and MS, 1975, Tohoku University) is a researcher at ERL. His current interests include the radioactive waste management and chemistry of nuclear waste.Fumio KawamuraFumio Kawamura (BS, chemical engineering, Gunma University,1970; MS, 1972, and Dr. Eng., 1976, Tohoku University) is a researcher at ERL where he is involved in radioactive waste management and reactor water chemistry.Hideo YusaHideo Yusa (BS, physics, Tohoku University, 1959; Dr. Eng., Osaka University, 1969) is a chief researcher at ERL. He is responsible for the research and development of radioactive waste management systems.Bernard L. CohenBernard L. Cohen (BS, Case Institute of Technology, 1944; MS, University of Pittsburgh, 1948; DSc, Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1950) did basic research on nuclear structure using accelerators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 1950 to 1958 and at the University of Pittsburgh until the mid-1970s. He then turned his research efforts to the environmental impacts of energy generation, including studies of radioactive waste, health effects of radiation, risk and risk aversion, radon problems, and reactor safety. He is a professor of physics at the University of Pittsburgh and a former director (1965 to 1978) of its Scaife Nuclear Laboratories.K. TasakaK. Tasaka (PhD, nuclear engineering, University of Tokyo, 1976) first worked in breeder reactor safety and fission product characteristics research for ten years and in light water reactor (LWR) safety research for nine years at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). He is the project leader of the Rig of Safety Assessment (ROSA) program, and his current interests include analysis of thermal-hydraulic behavior during a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) and an anticipated transient without scram in LWRs.M. SuzukiM. Suzuki (MS, mechanical engineering, Kyoto University, 1971) has worked for the ROSA program since 1974. His current interests include safety evaluation of an LWR.Y. AnodaY. Anoda (PhD, mechanical engineering, University of Tokyo, 1979) is a research engineer for the ROSA program. His current interests include two-phase flow during a LOCA.Y. KoizumiY. Koizumi (PhD, mechanical engineering, University of Tokyo, 1977) is a research engineer for the ROSA program. His current interests include analysis of thermal-hydraulic behavior during a LOCA with emphasis on two-phase flow characteristics and heat transfer.T. YonomotoT. Yonomoto (MS, nuclear engineering, University of Osaka, 1982) is a research engineer for the ROSA program. His current interests include analysis of thermal-hydraulic behavior during a LOCA.H. KumamaruH. Kumamaru (PhD, nuclear engineering, University of Tokyo, 1980) is a research engineer for the ROSA program. His current interests include core heat transfer under LOCA conditions.H. NakamuraH. Nakamura (MS, crystalline material engineering, Nagoya University, 1981) is a research engineer for the ROSA program. His current interests include analysis of thermal-hydraulic behavior during a LOCA.M. ShibaM. Shiba (MS, mechanical engineering, Waseda University, 1959) is the general manager of Reactor Safety Laboratory 1 at JAERI. He has worked for 22 years at JAERI in the field of reactor engineering and safety and is currently responsible for simulated LOCA experiments.Genichi MatsumotoGenichi Matsumoto (BS, physics, Tokyo University, 1946) has been an associate professor of nuclear engineering at Nagoya University from 1963 to the present, where he is responsible for research and education in nuclear reactor engineering. He worked as a member of the Scientific Research Institute of Tokyo following his graduation from Tokyo University, and from 1950 to 1963, he served on the technical staff of the Research Reactor Operation Division of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. His current research field includes nuclear safety, neutron radiography (especially neutron television technology), and heat pipe technology.Soichi DoiSoichi Doi (BS, 1976, and MS, 1978, nuclear engineering, Nagoya University) has been employed by the Mitsubishi Atomic Power Industry Co. since 1978, where he is responsible for the nuclear fuel engineering of light water reactors.Kohei OhkuboKohei Ohkubo (BS, mechanical engineering, Aichi Institute of Technology, 1975) is a staff member of Nagoya University.Yasushi IkedaYasushi Ikeda (BS, physics, 1963, and PhD, nuclear engineering, 1982, Nagoya University) has been an assistant staff member of Nagoya University from 1964 to the present. He has investigated thermodynamics of nuclear materials using mass spectrometric technology; neutron radiography technology is also included in his research interests.Günther HesselGünther Hessel [BS, physics, Technical University Dresden, German Democratic Republic (GDR), 1970] is a research scientist at the Central Institute of Nuclear Research (CIN), Rossendorf. He is involved in experimental investigations and developments for technical diagnosis, especially at nuclear power plants.Hans-Erich KöppenHans-Erich Köppen (BS, computer science, Technical University Dresden, 1973) is a research scientist at the CIN. His area of expertise is microprocessor hard- and software and the construction of autonomously working monitors.Peter LiewersPeter Liewers (BS, physics, University of Halle, GDR, 1957; PhD, physics, University of Leipzig, GDR, 1962) is the scientific leader of the group for reactor diagnostics at the CIN. His interests and activities have shifted from reactor physics to technical diagnostics.Peter SchumannPeter Schumann (BS, nuclear engineering, Technical University Dresden, 1963; PhD, physics, Bergakademie Freiberg, GDR, 1970) is a staff scientist at the CIN where he is concerned with digital signal processing and computer software. Formerly he worked in the field of in-core measuring techniques and neutron spectrometryFrank-Peter WeiβFrank-Peter Weiβ (BS, physics, Technical University Dresden, 1973) is a research scientist in the group for technical diagnostics at the CIN. His current interest is the application of statistical pattern recognition to technical diagnostics.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsY. OhsawaY. Ohsawa (PhD, Rikkyo University) is a member of the reactor control and instrumentation division staff of Hitachi Atomic Energy Research Laboratory. His interests include plant dynamics, and control and reactor diagnosis.K. KatoK. Kato (center) (ME, nuclear engineering, Tokyo University, 1969) is a member of the reactor control and instrumentation division staff of Hitachi Atomic Energy Research Laboratory, engaged in development of a reactor anomaly system.R. OyamadaR. Oyamada (BE, Ibaraki University, 1959) of the Project Engineering Section staff of Japan Materials Testing Reactor has, in recent years, been engaged in nuclear calculation to choose the core (fuel element and capsules) configuration of the JMTR.E. D. ClaytonE. D. Clayton (PhD, physics, University of Oregon, 1952) is Manager of Criticality Research at the Battelle-Pacific Northwest Laboratories, and research associate professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. Past chairman of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Division of the American Nuclear Society, a pioneer in criticality studies with plutonium, and since its inception in 1961, director of the Plutonium Critical Mass Laboratory of PNL, Clayton is currently chairman of work groups 10 and 12 within Subcommittee ANS-8. His current technical interests include most aspects of criticality measurements and studies.Karl HornyikKarl Hornyik (PhD, nuclear engineering, University of Illinois, 1965) is assistant professor of nuclear engineering at Oregon State University. He has been working with Portland General Electric on various problems concerning nuclear power plant siting and plant safety.John E. GrundJohn E. Grund (MS, nuclear engineering, North Carolina State University, 1957) is chief nuclear engineer for Portland General Electric Company. His areas of interest are nuclear safety and licensing. He has previously worked at the NRTS in Idaho on the SPERT project in the area of reactor kinetics.D. GuarinoD. Guarino (“Perito Tecnico Industriale,” Industrial Technical Institute of Naples, 1959) joined CNEN in 1960 and has worked primarily in the field of uranium compounds chemical analysis. He is presently engaged in the development of LWR fuel elements thermal hydraulics.V. MarinelliV. Marinelli (center) (PhD, nuclear engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 1967), at CNEN since 1969, is leader of thermal hydraulic studies at Gruppo Progettazione e Sperimentazione of CNEN Plutonium Program. His main areas of interest are the development of LWR computer codes as well as the planning and analysis of experimental tests.L. PastoriL. Pastori (“Perito Tecnico Industriale,” Industrial Technical Institute for Nuclear Energy Enrico Fermi, Rome, 1962), at CNEN since 1962, is expert in computer software problems and is presently engaged in studies of core simulator computer codes.M. W. MahoneyM. W. Mahoney (BS, physical metallurgy, University of California, Berkeley) is currently enrolled in an MS program at UCLA. He is a member of the ASME Subcommittee on Elevated Temperature Fatigue and Fracture. He has previously worked in nuclear reactor materials development and is currently investigating fracture, creep, and stress corrosion at elevated temperatures in a variety of materials. The current research interests ofN. E. PatonN. E. Paton (MS, metallurgical engineering, University of Aukland, New Zealand; PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) include stress corrosion, fracture, and mechanical properties of various materials.J. C. WoodJ. C. Wood (MSc, University of Bristol, 1967) has been a member of the Fuels and Materials Division at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, since leaving the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1969. His present interests include fuel engineering and stress corrosion cracking.L. D. PhilippL. D. Philipp (center) (BSEE, University of Colorado, 1963; MSEE, University of Washington, 1967; PhD, electrical engineering, University of New Mexico, 1971) has seven years experience in reactor instrumentation at Hanford where he has technical leadership responsibility for programs involving neutron flux instrumentation and insulator research and development.L. D. MuhlesteinL. D. Muhlestein (PhD, physics, Iowa State University, 1966; associate professor of physics, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1966-1973) is presently manager of the refueling and plant programs at Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory.M. R. WoodM. R. Wood (BSEE, University of Washington, 1947), presently a system engineer in the Westinghouse Hanford FFTF project, has worked in the nuclear reactor instrument field for 22 years.D. P. BrownDonald P. Brown (MSEE, University of Washington, 1965), an advanced engineer with Westinghouse Hanford Company, has 16 years of experience in nuclear instrumentation. His recent efforts have been aimed at the development of thermal- and fast-neutron detectors for in-core application.W. G. SpearWard G. Spear (MSEE, University of Idaho, 1960), presently Manager of Reactor Instrument Development at Westinghouse Hanford Company, has been working in the nuclear field for 22 years, with emphasis on reactor instrumentation development for the past 14 years.

Authors

Developing human capital in nuclear with required nuclear background and professional qualifications is necessary to support the implementation of nuclear power projects in the near future. Sufficient educational and training skills are required to ensure that the human resources needed by the nuclear power industry meets its high standard. The Government of Malaysia has made the decision to include nuclear as one of the electricity generation option for the country, post 2020 in order to cater for the increasing energy demands of the country as well as to reduce CO2 emission. The commitment by the government has been made clearer with the inclusion of the development of first NPP by 2021 in the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) which was launched by the government in October 2010. The In tandem with the government initiative to promote nuclear energy, Center for Nuclear Energy, College of Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) is taking the responsibility in developing human capital in the area of nuclear power and technology. In the beginning, the College of Engineering has offered the Introduction to Nuclear Technology course as a technical elective course for all undergraduate engineering students. Gradually, other nuclear technical elective courses are offered such as Nuclear Policy, Security and Safeguards, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, Radiation Detection and Nuclear Instrumentation, Introduction to Reactor Physics, Radiation Safety and Waste Management, and Nuclear Thermal-hydraulics. In addition, another course Advancement in Nuclear Energy is offered as one of the postgraduate elective courses. To enhance the capability of teaching staffs in nuclear areas at UNITEN, several junior lecturers are sent to pursue their postgraduate studies in the Republic of Korea, United States and the United Kingdom, while the others are participating in short courses and workshops in nuclear that are conducted locally and abroad. This paper describes the progress of teaching and learning in nuclear engineering and technology at UNITEN that include curriculum development, students' enrolment and performance, and teaching staff's human resource development.

Authors

The System Analysis Module (SAM) is under development at Argonne National Laboratory as a modern system-level modeling and simulation tool for advanced non-light water reactor safety analyses. It utilizes the object-oriented application framework MOOSE to leverage the modern software environment and advanced numerical methods. The capabilities of SAM are being extended to enable the transient modeling, analysis, and design of various advanced nuclear reactor systems. The molten-salt-cooled pebble-bed reactor, or pebble-bed FHR (PB-FHR) is a promising candidate among advanced nuclear reactor concepts with its improved passive safety characteristics and high thermal efficiency. To support the development and utilization of the SAM code for PB-FHR safety analysis, activities on SAM code enhancements, reference plant model developments, and code validations have been performed in the past a few years to support near-term industry and NRC needs. This report summarizes recent progress under DOE-NE’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program in SAM code development and demonstration for transient safety analysis of Fluoride-salt-cooled High-temperature Reactors. SAM capabilities has been significantly enhanced over the years to add FHR specific modeling features, including salt freezing and thawing, spherical core channel and pebble bed core modeling, solid-fluid thermal radiation, tritium transport and general species transport in fluids and solids, and the general code enhancements on solver schemes of point kinetics module and reactivity feedback models. A reference PB-FHR model is developed, based on publicly available information from Kairos Power’s generic FHR design and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) Mk1 design. A reference reactor model is foundational to the methodologies employed by NRC to verify the adequacy of computer codes and evaluation models. The reference FHR model was utilized for a number of selected FHR design basis accidents, including station blackout, loss of heat sink, loss of flow, transient overpower, and overcooling events.

X-Ray SpectrometryVolume 28, Issue 4 p. 207-208 Guest EditorialFree Access Guest Editorial Jorge E. Fernández, Jorge E. Fernández INFM, Department of Energetic, Nuclear and environmental control Engineering, University of BolognaSearch for more papers by this author Jorge E. Fernández, Jorge E. Fernández INFM, Department of Energetic, Nuclear and environmental control Engineering, University of BolognaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 27 September 1999 https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4539(199907/08)28:4<207::AID-XRS372>3.0.CO;2-8AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume28, Issue4Special Issue: Papers from the European Conference on EDXRS, Bologna, Italy, 7–12 June 1998July/August 1999Pages 207-208 RelatedInformation

During the 2001 Fiscal year, funds from the DOE Matching Grant Program, along with matching funds from the industrial sponsors have been used to support both research (in the area of thermal-hydraulics) and educational missions. Experimental research has been performed in the area of axial offset anomaly in pressurized water reactors. Numerical research has also been performed in the area of multi-fluid modeling of two-phase flow. Details of activities in these two areas are given below. As for the educational component, funds were used to support the Georgia Tech Nuclear and Radiological Engineering (NRE) Scholarship Program. This Scholarship Program has allowed Georgia Tech to substantially increase the freshman class size and to populate it with outstanding students.

The use of backscattered x-rays to image buried land miens and distinguish between surface and buried features has been well documented. Laboratory imaging experiments, being conducted at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico, have been used to develop preliminary data acquisition hardware and software for an upcoming advanced technology demonstration (ATD). In addition image processing techniques, developed by the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Florida, are utilized. Previous buried land mine imaging studies focused on antitank mines buried in screened sand and have included well defined surface features such as a board or a small diameter rock. In the present study we have examined imaging under a variety of practical environmental conditions. We have successfully imaged antitank miens (ATM) buried in sand and rocky New Mexico soil. Images have been obtained for bare surfaces as well as four surfaces covered with limestone road coarse base, snow, water, and native grass. In addition, we have imaged buried ATM and surface antipersonnel mines covered with debris consisting of various size rocks, a log, and leaves such that no mine was visible to the eye. Contour plots of the images obtained for the various environmental conditions are presented.

Several advanced reactor designs are now under active development in the United States and elsewhere, promising sustainable solutions to the growing world energy needs. The designs currently being considered are quite diverse and different from the more established light water reactor technology that has dominated the operating commercial nuclear landscape. While advanced reactor concepts were first explored in the dawn of the nuclear age, they are now being reconsidered under the light of modern needs, and specifically, for their flexible operating conditions and inherent safety characteristics. In response, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is moving forward with development of 10 CFR Part 53 rulemaking, which is a more risk-informed, technology-agnostic framework for licensing and regulating such new designs. The nuclear industry response to this regulatory initiative resulted in the technical report by the Nuclear Energy Institute, NEI 18-04 Revision 1, which provides an implementation roadmap of the risk-informed approach when defining the safety case for a new plant design. The implementation of this safety case may be a nontrivial exercise for an actual reactor design. This paper provides a demonstration of performing such an analysis for a representative advanced reactor. Public information from the General Atomics high-temperature gas reactor design was considered in this demonstration. The analysis workflow was facilitated with the FPoliSolutions’ proprietary Risk-Informed System Engineering (RISE) digital platform, a product that was presented in previous publications. RISE is one application of FPoli’s enterprise digital platform, which was created to facilitate orchestration of complex workflows leveraging recent technologies developed at national laboratories, such as Idaho National Laboratory’s RAVEN and EMRALD frameworks. The analysis described in the paper includes the selection and classifications of events, the integration of probabilistic risk analysis artifacts, and event modeling simulations for consequence evaluations. The results are then used for system, structures, and components safety classification and a synthesis of the safety case for the design in line with the frequency-consequence targets presented in NEI 18-04. The purpose of the analysis, as framed in RISE, is to readily produce outputs and views that can aid users and regulators in making risk-informed decisions to demonstrate their plant safety case.

This study, conducted under the auspices of the Energy Engineering Board of the National Research Council, examines the status of and outlook for nuclear engineering education in the United States. The study, as described in this report resulted from a widely felt concern about the downward trends in student enrollments in nuclear engineering, in both graduate and undergraduate programs. Concerns have also been expressed about the declining number of US university nuclear engineering departments and programs, the ageing of their faculties, the appropriateness of their curricula and research funding for industry and government needs, the availability of scholarships and research funding, and the increasing ratio of foreign to US graduate students. A fundamental issue is whether the supply of nuclear engineering graduates will be adequate for the future. Although such issues are more general, pertaining to all areas of US science and engineering education, they are especially acute for nuclear engineering education. 30 refs., 24 figs., 49 tabs.

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Contribution: Portable learning instrumentation has become common in university classrooms and laboratories, but few publications assess the effects of these technologies on student retention. This paper addresses this under-researched connection between the use of portable learning technologies, incorporated into an Introduction to Computer Engineering course, and student retention. Background: The desire for active learning experiences has promoted the use of portable, hands-on technologies in classrooms and laboratories. However, published results from such efforts do not often assess the impact of such tools on student retention. In Fall 2015, the Kansas State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering overhauled an introductory computer engineering course, incorporating portable learning tools with the aims to increase student retention, where a secondary focus related to helping students understand the limitations of portable hardware platforms. Intended Outcomes: The goal was to improve student confidence and the retention of first- and second-year students who took the course. Application Design: Laboratory exercises used portable technologies and focused on hardware limitations. Summative surveys helped to quantify the impact of the new course structure on student confidence. The retention of first- and second-year students who took the course was also investigated. Findings: Survey results indicated that the course transformation positively affected student confidence (measured directly and indirectly). Retention of second-year students who took the course improved to a two-year average of 51%, from a 40% average for the three prior years.

The Current Trends of Deep Learning in Autonomous Vehicles: A Review by Raymond Ning Huang 1 , Jing Ren2,* , Hossam A. Gabbar 3 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 1A4, Canada2 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, L1H 7K4, Canada3 Department of Energy and Nuclear Engineering,