Career Profile: Nuclear Engineers

Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 13,900 people employed as nuclear engineers in the United States. The median annual salary is $120,380. Entry level employees earn approximately $75,460 per year and senior employees earn approximately $169,000 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Initiate corrective actions or order plant shutdowns in emergency situations.
• Monitor nuclear facility operations to identify any design, construction, or operation practices that violate safety regulations and laws or could jeopardize safe operations.
• Design or develop nuclear equipment, such as reactor cores, radiation shielding, or associated instrumentation or control mechanisms.
• Examine accidents to obtain data for use in design of preventive measures.
• Direct operating or maintenance activities of nuclear power plants to ensure efficiency and conformity to safety standards.
• Recommend preventive measures to be taken in the handling of nuclear technology, based on data obtained from operations monitoring or from evaluation of test results.
• Write operational instructions to be used in nuclear plant operation or nuclear fuel or waste handling and disposal.
• Conduct environmental studies on topics such as nuclear power generation, nuclear waste disposal, or nuclear weapon deployment.
• Direct environmental compliance activities associated with nuclear plant operations or maintenance.
• Prepare environmental impact statements, reports, or presentations for regulatory or other agencies.
• Prepare technical reports of findings or recommendations, based on synthesized analyses of test results.
• Develop or contribute to the development of plans to remediate or restore environments affected by nuclear radiation, such as waste disposal sites.
• Conduct tests of nuclear fuel behavior and cycles or performance of nuclear machinery and equipment to optimize performance of existing plants.
• Design or oversee construction or operation of nuclear reactors, power plants, or nuclear fuels reprocessing and reclamation systems.
• Design or direct nuclear research projects to develop, test, modify, or discover new uses for theoretical models.
• Design fuel cycle models or processes to reduce the quantity of radioactive waste generated from nuclear activities.
• Consult with other scientists to determine parameters of experimentation or suitability of analytical models.
• Perform experiments that will provide information about acceptable methods of nuclear material usage, nuclear fuel reclamation, or waste disposal.
• Discuss construction project proposals with interested parties, such as vendors, contractors, or nuclear facility review boards.
• Keep abreast of developments and changes in the nuclear field by reading technical journals or by independent study and research.

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