NE MPhil Course Visit in 2019

Visit to Addenbrooke's Nuclear Medicine Department

During the visit of the Nuclear Medicine Department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, we were given the opportunity to see applications of nuclear sciences to healthcare. By far the thing which surprised us the most was how heavily reliant on physics and engineering modern medicine has become. Many of the instruments shown to us involved cutting-edge technology and were based on complex physical models derived from extensive collaboration between engineers, physicists and medical doctors. It was also really informative to learn about how radioactive isotopes are produced for medical applications and handled at the hospital. I believe all of us really enjoyed the visit as it was a great opportunity to see how the knowledge we gained throughout the course can be applied to other areas than engineering.

Visit to Nuclear Research Facility in Romania

The trip to Romania was absolutely fantastic: it gave us the opportunity to see actual nuclear reactors in operation as well as the whole facilities behind the production of the TRIGA fuel used in Romanian CANDU reactors. We were given access to the control room of the plant where we got to witness real-time experiments on control rods calibration. We also did a tour of the multiple facilities used to perform experiments on materials irradiation testing. The most impressive thing for me was to see the “yellow room” where spent fuel from the reactors is stored and tested: because of the very high levels of radioactivity, no humans are allowed in the room and all experiments have to be performed using mechanical, robotic arms. This was really nice to see. I believe the trip was also a great opportunity to reinforce bounds between members of the class: I definitely feel like this time helped me get to know my classmates better and I can tell the ambiance in the class has become much warmer since the trip. Lastly, we also got to experience a bit of the local culture and explore the town of Mioveni, which was especially beautiful during the Christmas period.

Nathan Ravoisin

Nuclear Energy MPhil Student 2019-20