The Ohio State University

Professor
Nuclear Engineering Program
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The Ohio State University

Dr. Christensen is currently Professor of Nuclear and Mechanical Engineering and holds appointments to the Graduate Department of both Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. Professor Christensen specializes in thermodynamics and heat transfer as applied to power reactor systems and components.

He was co-principal investigator for the OSU Plant Thermal Sciences Education Program and for the Office of Nuclear Waste Isolation Heat Transfer in Nuclear Waste Repositories Study. He was also principal investigator in a research program to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of reactor containment coolers.

Dr. Christensen was also co-principal investigator on a Project for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to determine the safety significance that the "Reed" Report has on the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. He has also completed a DOE study to investigate the dynamics of a jet pump for possible use in an inherently safe reactor. His most recent work included measurement of steam/air condensation coefficients for a device which initiates possible containment cooling in the AP600. Publications are in process on this work.

Professor Christensen has taught courses at the University level that are relevant to the thermodynamics and heat transfer characteristics of nuclear power plants, including:

1. R.N. Christensen, G. Anand, "Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of the Bistable Convection Loop for LMR Emergency Core Cooling," Nuclear Technology, May 1992.
2. M. Belhadj, T. Aldemir, and R.N. Christensen, "Determining Wall Superheat Under Fully Developed Nucleate Boiling in Plate-Type Research Reactor Cores with Low-Velocity Upward Flows," Nuclear Technology, Vol. 95, pp. 95-102, July 1991.
3. S.V. Garimella, R.N. Christensen, "Transient Condensation in the Presence of Noncondensables at a Vertical Wall," Nuclear Technology, Vol. 89, pp. 388-398, March 1990.
4. M.K. Carmel, R.N. Christensen, R.L. Osborne, "An Experimental Study of Mixed and Forced Convection in a Modeled Nuclear Waste Repository," ASME Proceedings of the 1988 National Heat Transfer Conference, 1988, Vol. 3, pp. 169-175.
5. N.T. Saltos, T. Aldemir, R.N. Christensen, "Variational Determination of Transient Radial-Azimuthal Temperature Distribution in Fuel Rods for Loss-of-Coolant-Accident Analysis," Nuclear Technology, Vol. 83, pp. 187-210, October 1988.
6. M. Belhadj, T. Aldemir, R.N. Christensen, "Onset of Nucleate Boiling in Thin Rectangular Channels Under Low-Velocity, Upward-Flow Conditions," Nuclear Technology, Vol. 82, pp. 330-340, Sept. 1988.