Good imagination may be an important personal quality in nuclear engineering. At least, that is, if you work with safety. Venkataraman Natarajan is writing his master’s thesis on safety hazards in fast breeder reactors, and has sometimes the use of his ability to fantasize when he runs scenarios in a computer simulation.– A prediction should of course be based on information and knowledge, but it also helps to be able to visualize the possible outcomes, he says.
With only one semester remaining in the master’s program Nuclear Engineering at Chalmers, Venkataraman Natarajan is going home to India to complete his thesis. Since there are no fast breeder reactors in Sweden, he does his work at a research reactor in Chennai. But he will not be moving home for good in another five or ten years.
– My aim is to work in Europe. Sweden would be nice but France is more advanced in the field of fast breeder reactors, so I will probably end up there after graduating.
He is certain that he will find it interesting to work at a nuclear power plant in the future, as the field is dynamic and fast developing. Even though he aims to work in a specific area at a specific kind of reactor, he is content that the master’s programme at Chalmers has been quite broad and given him insight in various aspects of nuclear energy, such as sustainability for example. He specifically appreciates the field trips to reactors in Sweden and Europe.
Beside his studies Venkataraman has a large interest in movies. In real life he wants to enhance safety, but in the theatre he enjoys disasters. One of his favourite films are 2012, an epic story about how a series of catastrophes destroys civilization.
– Now when I come to think of it, there might be a connection between my interest in apocalyptic stories on film and my ability to visualize outcomes of accidents, he says with a smile.
Name: Venkataraman Natarajan
Master's Programme: Nuclear Engineering
Age: 25
From: Chennai, India