Nuclear Monitoring Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 32% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 68% of the time, stays with people.
Collect and test samples to monitor results of nuclear experiments and contamination of humans, facilities, and environment.
$110,240 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on13 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people27 h
Nuclear Monitoring Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 13 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 27 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Determine or recommend radioactive decontamination procedures, according to the size and nature of equipment and the degree of contamination (about 4 h); Prepare reports describing contamination tests, material or equipment decontaminated, or methods used in decontamination processes (about 3 h); Brief workers on radiation levels in work areas (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 32%
- 0%
- 68%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 24%. Today's estimate: 32%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0062% to 0.0084% (released February and March 2025); 0.0058% to 0.0024% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0062% | 583 of 708 | 1 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0084% | 531 of 703 | 2 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0058% | 521 of 655 | 2 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0049% | 575 of 672 | 2 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0024% | 637 of 677 | 1 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 63% of this job's working time as physical work. For 54% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 30% in a purpose-built cell, 25% in a structured facility. 0.79 of 3, the 228th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 37%
- No robot shown 9%
- In a purpose-built cell 30%
- In a structured facility 25%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analyze samples, such as air or water samples, for contaminants or other elements.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, iMatic Gas-less Automatic Alpha/Beta Counting System (Mirion Technologies) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Instruct personnel in radiation safety procedures and demonstrate use of protective clothing and equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine or recommend radioactive decontamination procedures, according to the size and nature of equipment and the degree of contamination.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Determine intensities and types of radiation in work areas, equipment, or materials, using radiation detectors or other instruments.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Spot (with radiation detection payload) (Boston Dynamics / Dominion Energy) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare reports describing contamination tests, material or equipment decontaminated, or methods used in decontamination processes.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Decontaminate objects by cleaning with soap or solvents or by abrading with wire brushes, buffing wheels, or sandblasting machines.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ROBBE (robot-operated UHP water-jet decoating cell) (Fraunhofer IGD with RWE Nuclear GmbH and TSE-Wassmann) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor personnel to determine the amounts and intensities of radiation exposure.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mirion Argos-PAB / Argos family Whole Body Contamination Monitors (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect samples of air, water, gases, or solids to determine radioactivity levels of contamination.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RASA (Radionuclide Aerosol Sampler/Analyzer) (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Brief workers on radiation levels in work areas.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Set up equipment that automatically detects area radiation deviations and test detection equipment to ensure its accuracy.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Calculate safe radiation exposure times for personnel using plant contamination readings and prescribed safe levels of radiation.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Calibrate and maintain chemical instrumentation sensing elements and sampling system equipment, using calibration instruments and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Endress+Hauser Liquiline Control CDC90 (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people |
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.
- Nuclear Technicians40% now, 40% by 2028
- Nuclear Engineers7% now, 47% by 2028
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health34% now, 65% by 2028
- Nuclear Medicine Technologists29% now, 29% by 2028
- Nuclear Power Reactor Operators12% now, 13% by 2028
- Calibration Technologists and Technicians37% now, 55% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Nuclear Monitoring Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 32% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 32% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Nuclear Monitoring Technicians come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Determine or recommend radioactive decontamination procedures, according to the size and nature of equipment and the degree of contamination (99% of the task's time now); Prepare reports describing contamination tests, material or equipment decontaminated, or methods used in decontamination processes (99% of the task's time now); and Brief workers on radiation levels in work areas (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Nuclear Monitoring Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Analyze samples, such as air or water samples, for contaminants or other elements; Instruct personnel in radiation safety procedures and demonstrate use of protective clothing and equipment; and Determine intensities and types of radiation in work areas, equipment, or materials, using radiation detectors or other instruments. Together such tasks are about 68% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Nuclear Monitoring Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Nuclear Monitoring Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 63% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 54% of the working time, 25% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.79 of 3. One example: iMatic Gas-less Automatic Alpha/Beta Counting System for "analyze samples, such as air or water samples, for contaminants or other elements". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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