Nuclear Science and Engineering
The division of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE) in the Physics Department at KTH has close to 60 employees (including 25 doctoral students) and is today the largest academic research environment in Sweden for nuclear science, engineering and technology. The NSE division was formed in January 2024 by merging three previous divisions at KTH: Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Power Safety and Nuclear Physics.
Research
Our scientific activities span over several fields, in both fundamental and applied research, using both experimental techniques, theoretical modelling, and computer simulations. This includes experimental and theoretical research on the atomic nucleus itself, using gamma spectroscopy with state-of-the-art detector arrays at accelerator faciltities world-wide, development of radiation detectors, and large-scale multi-CPU calculations. The activities also include several applications of radiation detector technology, such as nuclear safeguards, nanodosimetry, and radon detection for earthquake precursor research. In nuclear energy applications our division has extensive experience in advanced reactor simulations, including Monte Carlo simulations for neutronics and thermo-hydraulic modelling. Several projects in the division is related to nuclear power safety and research in severe accident scenarios. Another important activity is research on solid-state materials, including development of novel nuclear fuels and microscopic modelling of radiation damage.
Details of our many research activities can be found here
Infrastructure
Our experimental research is performed at a large number of research faciltities, both at KTH, elsewhere in Sweden, and at international research facilties abroad.
Education
In addition to the broad spectrum of research, the NSE division at KTH is coordinating the only full 2-year international master’s program in Nuclear Energy Engineering in Sweden. We offer around 20 courses in this field, and since all faculty staff of the NSE division are active in teaching on the master level, there is a strong connection between our course activities and the scientific advances in the nuclear science and nuclear engineering research. The KTH master program in Nuclear Energy Engineering is very competitive world-wide, and we are attracting students from Sweden, from Europe, and from all around the globe. Our many alumni students are today contributing to the Swedish nuclear industry as well as internationally. The graduates from the master program also make a very good base for potential PhD candidates, and MSc thesis projects are typically closely connected to our research activities.
We are also responsible for several courses in the Engineering Physics Master programme at KTH. For detailed information about the courses we teach, follow the above link to the master programme pages. For information on our BSc or MSc thesis projects, please follow this link .