Also called: Reactor Engineer
Designs, runs, and improves nuclear reactors and the systems that keep them safe.
At a plant, you might calculate how fuel will burn over the next 18 months, study a valve problem, and present a safety analysis to regulators. At a startup, you might design an entirely new kind of reactor.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in nuclear engineering; master's common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, Military. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics.
Growing slowly (about 1% over 10 years). Plant life extensions, restarts, and new small reactors may lift demand above older BLS projections.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI tools speed safety analysis and paperwork; strict NRC rules keep licensed humans accountable for reactor design and safety.
Classes: AP Physics C, AP Calculus, AP Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2161.
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