Nuclear Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Nuclear Engineer researches and develops technology and systems that use nuclear energy and radiation. Maintains the safety of existing nuclear power systems, or develops nuclear power sources, or develops industrial and medical uses for radioactive material.
Job Outlook
There were 150 Nuclear Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 3062 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Nuclear Engineer industry, which includes the Nuclear Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Nuclear Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $125,878.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $119,258.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Nuclear Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $109,523.
Education and Experience
Posted Nuclear Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 77.07% |
| Master's Degree | 38.37% |
| Doctoral Degree | 14.7% |
| Other | 5.03% |
Posted Nuclear Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 19.82% |
| 3 to 5 years | 35.85% |
| 6 to 8 years | 19.08% |
| 9+ years | 25.25% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Nuclear Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Operations (31.55%)
- Communication (27.99%)
- Management (25.18%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (21.39%)
- Research (18.55%)
- Leadership (18.35%)
- Planning (17.31%)
- Coordinating (17.24%)
- Writing (15.09%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (13.75%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Nuclear Fuel Cycle (4.74%)
- Nuclear Fuel (6.03%)
- Nuclear Power (27.56%)
- Nuclear Engineering (47.46%)
- Project Management (26.13%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Emergency Response (9.51%)
- Electrical Engineering (21.88%)
- Auditing (3.73%)
- Peer Review (8.64%)
- Control Systems (6.66%)
- Chemistry (11.57%)
- Systems Engineering (11.92%)
- ASME Boiler And Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) (6.03%)
- Engineering Management (3.1%)
- Construction (4.98%)
- Engineering Calculations (8.64%)
- Instrumentation (6.66%)
- Engineering Design Process (11.11%)
- Finite Element Methods (2.72%)
- Electronics (8.78%)
- Process Engineering (1.08%)
- Valves (Piping) (5.44%)
- Mechanical Engineering (17.25%)
- Procurement (14.46%)
- Nuclear Safety (7.6%)
- Physics (25.64%)
- Systems Design (8.95%)
- Design Specifications (3.1%)
- MATLAB (4.15%)
- Radiation Protection (9.58%)
- Risk Analysis (5.26%)
- Technical Writing (4.36%)
- Environment Health And Safety (1.32%)
- Commissioning (2.2%)
- Nuclear Reactor (16.1%)
- Export Control (11.74%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Design Change Packages (3.94%)
- Nuclear Design (5.33%)
- Chemical Reaction Engineering (7.56%)
- Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Codes (7.21%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Nuclear Design (10.26%)
- Chemical Reaction Engineering (14.55%)
- Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Codes (13.88%)
- Nuclear Engineering (91.35%)
- Nuclear Fuel (11.6%)
- Refrigeration Plant (8.99%)
- Marine Propulsion (9.19%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Nuclear Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Nuclear Licensing Engineer
- Nuclear Project Manager
- Nuclear Electrician
- Radiation Engineer
- Instrumentation and Controls Engineer
- Nuclear Mechanic
- Nuclear Engineering Intern
- Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer
- Lead Electronics Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Nuclear Safety Engineer
- Aerospace Engineer
- Mechanical Systems Engineer
- Electrical Engineering Manager
- Automotive Engineer
- Mechanical Engineer (General)
- Electrical Engineer (General)
- Manufacturing Process Engineer
- Design Engineering Manager
- Aerospace Engineering Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Nuclear Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Sargent & Lundy (277)
- Westinghouse Electric Company (190)
- Volt (127)
- Public Service Enterprise Group (123)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (107)
- Kiewit Corporation (95)
- Duke Energy (71)
- Naval Nuclear Laboratory (57)
- Dominion Energy (56)
- General Dynamics (47)
North Carolina
- Duke Energy (46)
- GE Vernova (28)
- Sargent & Lundy (18)
- Actalent (7)
- ReNuke Services (4)
- GE Aerospace (4)
- Orano USA (4)
- Pinnacle Group (2)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (2)
- Volt (2)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.