Editing Nuclear engineering (section)

{{Short description|Applied science}}
'''Nuclear engineering''' is the engineering discipline concerned with designing and applying systems that utilize the energy released by nuclear processes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear engineering, going forward |url=https://www.ans.org/news/article-582/nuclear-engineering-going-forward/ |website=NuclearNewswire |publisher=American Nuclear Society |access-date=21 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear Engineering |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/nuclear-engineering |website=Britannica |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref>
The most prominent application of nuclear engineering is the generation of electricity. Worldwide, some 440 nuclear reactors in [[Nuclear power by country|32 countries]] generate 10 percent of the world's energy through [[nuclear fission]].<ref name="WNA">{{cite web |title=Nuclear Power in the World Today |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today.aspx |website=World Nuclear Association |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> In the future, it is expected that [[nuclear fusion]] will add another nuclear means of generating energy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Jess |title=When Can We Expect Nuclear Fusion? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/nuclear-fusion-when-ready-electricity-technology-1773349 |access-date=6 April 2023 |publisher=Newsweek}}</ref> Both reactions make use of the [[nuclear binding energy]] released when atomic [[nucleon]]s are either separated (fission) or brought together (fusion). The energy available is given by the [[nuclear binding energy#Nuclear binding energy curve|binding energy curve]], and the amount generated is much greater than that generated through chemical reactions. Fission of 1 gram of uranium yields as much energy as burning 3 tons of coal or 600 gallons of fuel oil,<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear Fission Energy |url=https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/14/1.html |publisher=Lawrence Livermore |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear power and the environment |url=https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/nuclear-power-and-the-environment.php |website=EIA |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |access-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>