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Topic · Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Nuclear and radioactivity studies

Nuclear and radioactivity studies is a research topic within Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality. Science Explorer counts 32k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to the safety and management of nuclear fuel transportation, including radiation protection, spent fuel storage, impact analysis, regulatory requirements, and radioactive waste management. It addresses issues such as optimization of fuel spacer grids, impact characteristics of transport casks, safety evaluations in energy-limited events, and the environmental impact assessment process for nuclear facilities.

  • Nuclear Fuel
  • Radiation Protection
  • Spent Fuel
  • Transport Cask
  • Radioactive Waste Management
  • Safety Analysis
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Spacer Grid
  • Impact Loading
  • Regulatory Requirements
Research works
32k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+2%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
29% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Nuclear and radioactivity studies

Which countries lead Nuclear and radioactivity studies research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (704 and 453 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 704 works
  2. 2 China 453 works
  3. 3 Japan 257 works
  4. 4 India 183 works
  5. 5 Russia 174 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 148 works
  7. 7 South Korea 144 works
  8. 8 Germany 138 works
  9. 9 France 131 works
  10. 10 Indonesia 107 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 28.9%China: 18.6%Japan: 10.6%India: 7.5%6 others listed: 34.5%29%largest
United States704 · 28.9%China453 · 18.6%Japan257 · 10.6%India183 · 7.5%6 others listed841 · 34.5%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Nuclear and radioactivity studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Idaho National Laboratory publishes the most Nuclear and radioactivity studies research, followed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Idaho National LaboratoryUnited States 74 works
  2. 2 Oak Ridge National LaboratoryUnited States 55 works
  3. 3 Japan Atomic Energy AgencyJapan 49 works
  4. 4 China General Nuclear Power Corporation (China)China 44 works
  5. 5 Department of Atomic EnergyIndia 41 works
  6. 6 Sandia National LaboratoriesUnited States 36 works
  7. 7 Tsinghua UniversityChina 33 works
  8. 8 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 31 works
  9. 9 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 31 works
  10. 10 Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies AlternativesFrance 26 works

Who are the leading researchers in Nuclear and radioactivity studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Nuclear and radioactivity studies include Martin McKee and Lídia Morawska.

  1. 1 Martin McKee United Kingdom 270k citations
  2. 2 Lídia Morawska Australia 244k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Nuclear and radioactivity studies?

The most cited paper in Nuclear and radioactivity studies is "Mathematical Handbook for Scientists and Engineers" (J. Ernest Wilkins, 1962), with 2,038 citations. Next come "Comparison of the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents: A review of the environmental impacts" (1,059) and "Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Future Automotive Fuels and Powertrains in the European Context" (1,039).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Mathematical Handbook for Scientists and Engineers J. Ernest Wilkins · Nuclear Science and Engineering Jun 1962 2,038
2 Comparison of the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents: A review of the environmental impacts Georg Steinhäuser, Alexander Brandl, Thomas E. Johnson · The Science of The Total Environment Nov 2013 1,059
3 Well-to-Wheels Analysis of Future Automotive Fuels and Powertrains in the European Context Robert Edwards, Vincent Mahieu, J. C. Griesemann et al. · SAE technical papers on CD-ROM/SAE technical paper series Conference paper 8 Jun 2004 1,039
4 Modèle de fonction aléatoire de couverture applicable aux phénomènes de filiation à base poissonnienne Pierre-Yves Arqués · Journal de physique Open access 1971 1,010
5 A review of waste management practices and their impact on human health Lorenzo Giusti · Waste Management Open access 29 Apr 2009 880
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Nuclear and radioactivity studies research done?

The largest centres of Nuclear and radioactivity studies research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Tokyo (Japan) and Idaho Falls (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Idaho Falls, Tōkai Mura and Oak Ridge.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 161 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 99 works
  3. 3 TokyoJapan 88 works
  4. 4 Idaho FallsUnited States 75 works
  5. 5 Oak RidgeUnited States 56 works
  6. 6 MumbaiIndia 53 works
  7. 7 Tōkai MuraJapan 49 works
  8. 8 ShenzhenChina 48 works
  9. 9 ParisFrance 45 works
  10. 10 JakartaIndonesia 45 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Idaho FallsUS · 74.6 works170×
  2. Tōkai MuraJP · 49.0 works165×
  3. Oak RidgeUS · 55.8 works46×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Nuclear and radioactivity studies than the world average.

See Nuclear and radioactivity studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Nuclear and radioactivity studies?

Among universities, judged by research, Fukushima University, Tsinghua University and University of South China score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 14.09%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of Manche…Fukushima UniversityUniversity of South …Tsinghua University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Fukushima UniversityJapan 73.722.3%175.8×12 +38.2%
2Tsinghua UniversityChina 67.814.7%4.3×33 +11.9%
3University of South ChinaChina 57.315.2%17.8×16 +50.7%
4University of ManchesterUnited Kingdom 53.822.6%3.0×8 -2.7%
5Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 52.811.1%3.2×18 +59.3%
6Ural Federal UniversityRussia 51.823.2%9.1×8 -22.0%
7Harbin Engineering UniversityChina 47.410.2%7.8×13 +51.4%
8The University of TokyoJapan 47.316.1%4.0×16 -42.1%
9National University of SingaporeSingapore 42.21.3%3.2×12 +190.2%
10Homi Bhabha National InstituteIndia 38.24.2%14.7×12 +42.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Nuclear and radioactivity studies, country by country

Is Nuclear and radioactivity studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 2% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Nuclear and radioactivity studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Nuclear and radioactivity studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.020% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Nuclear and radioactivity studies0.014% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Nuclear and radioactivity studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Nuclear and radioactivity studies10.9% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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