Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Topic · Aerospace Engineering

Nuclear reactor physics and engineering

Nuclear reactor physics and engineering is a research topic within Aerospace Engineering. Science Explorer counts 51k research works in it since 1950. 27.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers advanced nuclear reactor technology, including topics such as molten salt reactors, neutron transport, Generation IV reactors, the thorium fuel cycle, and small modular reactors. It also discusses the development and application of Monte Carlo codes, lead-cooled fast reactors, transmutation processes, and nuclear data libraries.

  • Nuclear Reactor
  • Molten Salt
  • Neutron Transport
  • Generation IV
  • Thorium Fuel Cycle
  • Monte Carlo Code
  • Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor
  • Transmutation
  • Small Modular Reactors
  • Nuclear Data Library
Research works
51k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
14k
per year above
Top-10% rate
27.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+6%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Nuclear reactor physics and engineering research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.6k and 1.4k works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 1.6k works
  2. 2 United States 1.4k works
  3. 3 Russia 452 works
  4. 4 Japan 352 works
  5. 5 France 329 works
  6. 6 India 282 works
  7. 7 Germany 247 works
  8. 8 South Korea 237 works
  9. 9 Italy 205 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 180 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.

China: 30.4%United States: 26.8%Russia: 8.5%Japan: 6.6%6 others listed: 27.7%30%largest
China1,624 · 30.4%United States1,432 · 26.8%Russia452 · 8.5%Japan352 · 6.6%6 others listed1,479 · 27.7%

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

Which institutions lead Nuclear reactor physics and engineering research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Idaho National Laboratory publishes the most Nuclear reactor physics and engineering research, followed by Xi'an Jiaotong University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Idaho National LaboratoryUnited States 196 works
  2. 2 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 182 works
  3. 3 Oak Ridge National LaboratoryUnited States 149 works
  4. 4 Tsinghua UniversityChina 110 works
  5. 5 Japan Atomic Energy AgencyJapan 108 works
  6. 6 Los Alamos National LaboratoryUnited States 100 works
  7. 7 China General Nuclear Power Corporation (China)China 99 works
  8. 8 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 90 works
  9. 9 Harbin Engineering UniversityChina 75 works
  10. 10 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 62 works

Who are the leading researchers in Nuclear reactor physics and engineering?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Nuclear reactor physics and engineering include Xiaogang Wang, J. Kroll and C. Leroy.

  1. 1 Xiaogang Wang Russia 13k citations
  2. 2 J. Kroll Italy 7.6k citations
  3. 3 C. Leroy Israel 7.3k citations

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

Where is Nuclear reactor physics and engineering research done?

The largest centres of Nuclear reactor physics and engineering research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), Xi'an (China) and Idaho Falls (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, Idaho Falls and Tōkai Mura.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 444 works
  2. 2 Moscow Russia 244 works
  3. 3 Xi'an China 217 works
  4. 4 Idaho Falls United States 199 works
  5. 5 Shanghai China 160 works
  6. 6 Oak Ridge United States 150 works
  7. 7 Shenzhen China 113 works
  8. 8 Tōkai Mura Japan 111 works
  9. 9 Los Alamos United States 110 works
  10. 10 Mumbai India 106 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Saint-Paul-lès-DuranceFR · 31.0 works268×
  2. Idaho FallsUS · 199.5 works237×
  3. Tōkai MuraJP · 111.0 works205×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Nuclear reactor physics and engineering than the world average.

See Nuclear reactor physics and engineering on the map

Where is the best place to study Nuclear reactor physics and engineering?

Among universities, judged by research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences 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%20%40%60%mean 36.3%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Xi'an Jiaotong University: 182, 43.3%Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology: 19, 38.3%Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences: 8, 54.0%National Research Nuclear University MEPhI: 50, 16.2%Shanghai Jiao Tong University: 90, 50.5%Homi Bhabha National Institute: 38, 17.4%University of Tennessee at Knoxville: 25, 36.3%North China Electric Power University: 48, 37.0%Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology: 27, 39.2%Harbin Engineering University: 75, 30.8%Pakistan Institute o…Xi'an Jiaotong Unive…Ulsan National Insti…National Research Nu…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 76.143.3%17.1×182 +75.4%
2 Ulsan National Institute of Science and TechnologySouth Korea 66.138.3%19.0×19 +169.8%
3 Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied SciencesPakistan 64.754.0%36.9×8 +53.9%
4 National Research Nuclear University MEPhIRussia 61.116.2%61.9×50 +374.7%
5 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 60.350.5%6.3×90 -15.4%
6 Homi Bhabha National InstituteIndia 60.017.4%27.3×38 +1588.6%
7 University of Tennessee at KnoxvilleUnited States 59.536.3%9.5×25 +80.9%
8 North China Electric Power UniversityChina 59.437.0%10.8×48 +5.0%
9 Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologySouth Korea 59.339.2%8.8×27 +66.8%
10 Harbin Engineering UniversityChina 59.030.8%21.8×75 +0.6%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Nuclear reactor physics and engineering research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 6% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Nuclear reactor physics and engineering.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

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.