Also called: Licensed Reactor Operator, RO
Controls a nuclear reactor from the control room, adjusting power and watching hundreds of indicators.
You start your shift with a detailed turnover, watch the panels, adjust control rods and pumps, and run surveillance tests. You spend about one week in six training in the simulator.
High school diploma, about 2 years after high school. High school diploma plus 2-3 years of plant training and an NRC operator license; Navy nuclear vets are prized.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training, 2-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Nuclear Engineering Technology, Navy Nuclear Power Program.
Shrinking (about -15% over 10 years). Plant life extensions, restarts, and new small reactors may lift demand above older BLS projections.
Low risk for 10 years. Newer reactors automate more, but NRC rules keep licensed humans running the controls.
Classes: AP Physics, Chemistry, Algebra 2.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-8011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.