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Nuclear Engineers

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

Where in the military? In the military: see titles from the Marine Corps or Navy.

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.
  • Direct operating or maintenance activities of operational nuclear power plants to ensure efficiency and conformity to safety standards.
  • Monitor nuclear facility operations to identify any design, construction, or operation practices that violate safety regulations and laws or that could jeopardize the safety of operations.

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology
  • product and service development
  • design
Math and Science
  • physics
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
Safety and Government
  • public safety and security
  • law and government
Arts and Humanities
  • English language

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • reading work related information
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
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it

Abilities

Verbal
  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
  • notice when problems happen
  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
Math
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
Attention
  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Integrity
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Analytical or scientific software
  • Maplesoft Maple
  • The MathWorks MATLAB
Development environment software
  • FOLLOW code
  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel

Education

Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
master's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Average Outlook
New job opportunities are likely in the future.
Salary
$101,930
per year, on average
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Green
This work is part of the green economy.

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See more details at O*NET OnLine about nuclear engineers.