NENuclear Engineer
NE
Career

Nuclear Engineer

By the numbers
Typical pay
$133,970 / yr
Education to start
Bachelor's degree
Future demand
-1.1% by 2034
People in this job
15K
Figures shown for ·1 O*NET occupation
The work
A day, hour by hour
07:30
Morning briefing

Review overnight plant logs and radiation monitoring data for anomalies.

08:00
Simulation run

Run reactor physics code to model neutron behavior under a new fuel configuration.

09:30
Safety review

Analyze a flagged pressure reading — sensor glitch or real anomaly? Dig in.

11:00
Peer check

Review a colleague's risk calculations line by line; catch two input errors.

13:00
Regulatory prep

Draft safety analysis section of an NRC submittal; every word must hold up to scrutiny.

14:30
Waste walkthrough

Assess a proposed spent-fuel storage layout for shielding gaps and compliance issues.

15:30
Inspection debrief

Answer tough federal reviewer questions about last week's design change documentation.

16:30
Radiation check

Confirm worker dose logs are within limits; decide if tomorrow's maintenance can proceed.

Things you do
  • Design nuclear reactor systems and model how they behave under pressure.
  • Run computer simulations to predict how radiation moves through a facility.
  • Analyze what could go wrong in a reactor and calculate the risks.
  • Write detailed safety reports to satisfy strict government regulators.
  • Monitor radiation levels and make sure workers stay within safe limits.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this reactor reading a real anomaly, or just a sensor glitch?
  • Does this design change make the system safer, or does it introduce a new risk I haven't modeled yet?
  • Should I flag this safety concern now and halt the project, or gather more data first?
  • Is the radiation exposure here within acceptable limits, or do I need to pull my team out?
  • Should I push back on this regulatory interpretation, or is the agency's read correct?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in None, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:Nuclear Engineers · 98% related
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