Also called: Radiological Diver
Dives inside nuclear plant pools to inspect and repair equipment while monitoring radiation.
Wearing special suits and radiation monitors, nuclear divers work in crystal-clear reactor and fuel pools, doing maintenance during plant outages. Precision and following procedures are everything.
Outage work pays premium rates; estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 3 years after high school. Commercial diving school (e.g., Divers Institute of Technology, CDA Technical Institute, The Ocean Corporation, or Santa Barbara City College's Marine Diving Technology program) with ADCI certification plus radiation worker training and commercial diving experience.
Ways in: Trade school, Certification, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Commercial Diving (trade school).
Growing much faster than average (about 9% over 10 years).
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Robotic crawlers handle more pool inspections; complex repair work during plant outages still uses divers.
Classes: Physics, Chemistry, Physical education and swimming.
Official data: O*NET occupation 49-9092.
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.