Core studies make comeback [nuclear engineering education]

A number of surprised nuclear engineering department heads are reporting their enrollments are up, in some cases for the first time in almost a decade, and are cautiously optimistic that this heralds a turnaround. Several explanations are possible. There´s the Bush administration´s pro-nuclear energy plan and the concern about the effects of burning fossil fuels on global warming. Also, some 40-year nuclear plant licenses nearing their end are being extended for 20 years, and new reactor designs are on the drawing boards. So a nuclear career looks less of a dead end than it did only a few years ago; there may be a new positive attitude toward the field as universities, industry, and the US federal government have stepped up efforts to recruit students in the past few years with an infusion of scholarship money.