Nuclear Engineers
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.
15,280 people do this job in the US. $133,970 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 61%
- 20%
- 19%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 2%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design or develop nuclear equipment, such as reactor cores, radiation shielding, or associated instrumentation or control mechanisms.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 11% | 1.7 work weeks4.2 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 0%Half by Jan 2029 | |
| Develop or contribute to the development of plans to remediate or restore environments affected by nuclear radiation, such as waste disposal sites.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 11% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.9 work months | 0%Half by Oct 2029 | |
| Design or oversee construction or operation of nuclear reactors, power plants, or nuclear fuels reprocessing and reclamation systems.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 11% | 4.2 work weeks1.7 work weeks to 4.8 work months | Stays with people | |
| Direct operating or maintenance activities of nuclear power plants to ensure efficiency and conformity to safety standards.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Design fuel cycle models or processes to reduce the quantity of radioactive waste generated from nuclear activities.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.5 work months | 0%Half by Aug 2029 | |
| Conduct tests of nuclear fuel behavior and cycles or performance of nuclear machinery and equipment to optimize performance of existing plants.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Design or direct nuclear research projects to develop, test, modify, or discover new uses for theoretical models.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 work weeks4.2 work days to 3.1 work months | Stays with people | |
| Prepare environmental impact statements, reports, or presentations for regulatory or other agencies.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.5 work months | 0%Half by Oct 2029 | |
| Prepare technical reports of findings or recommendations, based on synthesized analyses of test results.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1.7 work weeks | 2%Half by Jul 2028 | |
| Conduct environmental studies on topics such as nuclear power generation, nuclear waste disposal, or nuclear weapon deployment.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.9 work months | 0%Half by Dec 2029 | |
| Monitor nuclear facility operations to identify any design, construction, or operation practices that violate safety regulations and laws or could jeopardize safe operations.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | 21%Half by May 2027 | |
| Write operational instructions to be used in nuclear plant operation or nuclear fuel or waste handling and disposal.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 1%Half by Apr 2028 |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).