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Career Exploration

Nuclear Engineers

Also called: Engineer, Nuclear Engineer, Nuclear Licensing Engineer, Nuclear Reactor Engineer

What they do:

Conduct research on nuclear engineering projects or apply principles and theory of nuclear science to problems concerned with release, control, and use of nuclear energy and nuclear waste disposal.

On the job, you would:
  • Initiate corrective actions or order plant shutdowns in emergency situations.
  • Monitor nuclear facility operations to identify any design, construction, or operation practices that violate safety regulations and laws or could jeopardize safe operations.
  • Design or develop nuclear equipment, such as reactor cores, radiation shielding, or associated instrumentation or control mechanisms.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • product and service development
  • design

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
  • physics

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Safety and Government

  • public safety and security

Basic Skills

  • using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems
  • keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • notice when problems happen
  • group things in different ways

Math

  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide

Visual Understanding

  • see hidden patterns

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Integrity
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Dependability
  • Cooperation
  • Initiative

Analytical or scientific software

  • SAS
  • The MathWorks MATLAB

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Development environment software

  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
  • TOTE code

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Below Average.

New job opportunities are less likely in the future.

Median Annual Salary: $122,480

Education

Bachelor's degree is usually needed.