Spring 2027

Nuclear Reactor Theory

Nuclear Reactor Theory covers neutronics behavior of fission reactors from a theoretical, one-speed perspective, including criticality, reactivity control, stability, and diffusion theory.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Ben Lindley

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Gregory Moses

Homework was very difficult, and the textbook was in-depth and filled with equations. Exams were considered easy in comparison to the homework.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Write neutron balance conditions describing the temporal, spectral and spatial behavior of (neutron) multiplying systems

  • Explain how stability issues manifest themselves in choices of reactor design and operation in light water reactors

  • Assess whether or not a system containing fissile material is critical

  • Estimate the lifetime of a core based on the initial excess reactivity; prescribe control materials for maintaining criticality over the core lifetime

  • Solve simple temporal reactor kinetics problems and explain the shape of the reactor power curve

  • Solve simple spectral problems and explain the shape of the neutron spectrum in a light water reactor

  • Find the spatial neutron distribution and associated power distribution for a given combination of constituent materials using one-group and two-group diffusion theory

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

N E 305 and (MATH 319, 320, 321, or 375), or graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

NE 405 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

GREGORY MOSES is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 360

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Gregory Moses

Lectures were described as helpful and entertaining, balancing derivations with problem-solving. The instructor was noted to care clearly about students.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 2.76 GPA, 29.4% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.06 GPA, 36.4% A/AB (n=33 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.92 GPA, 37.5% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Gregory Moses

Homework was very difficult, and the textbook was in-depth and filled with equations. Exams were considered easy in comparison to the homework.

Past student reviews · Gregory Moses

One student found the lectures fairly useless because the instructor avoided all possible math.

Topics

  • Criticality, fission product poisoning, reactivity control, reactor stability, and fuel management.
  • Slowing down and one-speed diffusion theory.
  • Neutron spectra in light water reactors.

Skills

  • Writing neutron balance conditions for multiplying systems.
  • Solving temporal reactor kinetics problems.
  • Finding spatial neutron and power distributions using diffusion theory.
  • Estimating core lifetime and prescribing control materials.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
NE 405 · Spring 2027

Nuclear Reactor Theory

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:684:013803",
    "course_id": "NE 405",
    "course_uid": "course_24c2cd6c7f70a7d9386a2a86",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "013803",
    "source_subject_id": "684",
    "title": "Nuclear Reactor Theory",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "fb8aa5da82ea58a77fec67e32ec87767c4ef8028d93801549144b76c47ec2a97",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}