Day in the life
A Day in the Life of a Nuclear Engineer
What nuclear engineers actually do from the start of a shift to the end: the tasks, tools, schedule and realities of the job.
What is a typical day like for a nuclear engineer?
Review overnight plant data. From there, the day usually includes monitor reactor performance, analyze safety, and manage fuel. Full time, with long hours during outages.
Hour by hour: a typical shift
No two days are identical, but this timeline reflects a realistic day for a nuclear engineer working full time.
- Review overnight plant data.
- Meet operations.
- Run a reactor physics calculation.
- Review a design change.
- Write a safety evaluation.
- Plan refueling.
- NRC compliance review.
Where nuclear engineers work
Nuclear engineers work at power plants, labs, naval shipyards and offices.
Hours and schedule
Full time, with long hours during outages.
Tasks you’ll do most often
- Monitor reactor performance
- Analyze safety
- Manage fuel
- Design shielding
- Write procedures
- Support outages
- Ensure NRC compliance
Tools you’ll use every day
- MCNP
- RELAP
- MATLAB
- Plant computers
- Radiation detectors
- Python
The best and hardest parts of the job
What people like
- Very high pay
- Clean energy role
- Advanced technology
- New reactor designs
What’s hard
- Slow growth
- Strict regulation
- Security clearances
- Outage hours
You’ll likely thrive if…
- I love physics
- I’m very careful
- I follow procedures
- I want clean energy work
- I want very high pay
- I can handle regulation
Not sure? Take the free Nuclear Engineer fit quiz or the Career Match Quiz.
Staying safe on the job
- Follow radiation protection
- Follow NRC rules
- Apply ALARA
- Use procedures exactly