What is Nuclear Physics?

Title:               What is Nuclear Physics?

Duration:        1.28 mins

Speaker: Professor Martin Freer – Director, Birmingham Centre for Nuclear Education and Research

Begins

Nuclear Science is a very very broad subject. At the one end you have fundamental science which is understanding properties of nuclear matter, how do we build a nucleus, what did matter look like right at the beginning of time, just an instant after the Big Bang and when it cooled down how did we go through various phases of nuclear matter? So that’s the fundamental side.

On the applied side,  nuclear techniques are used in the medical arena for imaging for example in hospitals. At this university we produce the isotopes which are used in those imaging programmes within the hospitals around the UK. We also have the applied programme within Birmingham which is understanding materials for nuclear reactors, what happens when you have to decommission reactors at the end of their lifespan, you can use robotics systems for that decommissioning so we’ve got groups working on robotics, waste disposal and putting nuclear materials in canisters – can we understand the science behind putting those canisters underground, so geological disposal. 

So there's a very very broad spectrum of research which comes under the programmes that we teach.

Ends