Nuclear Engineers

Nuclear Engineers typically perform the following tasks: • Design or develop nuclear equipment, such as reactor cores, radiation shielding, or associated instrumentation or control mechanisms. • Monitor nuclear facility operations to identify any design, construction, or operation practices that violate safety regulations and laws or could jeopardize safe operations. • Initiate corrective actions or order plant shutdowns in emergency situations. • 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. • Design or oversee construction or operation of nuclear reactors, power plants, or nuclear fuels reprocessing and reclamation systems. • Direct environmental compliance activities associated with nuclear plant operations or maintenance. • Write operational instructions to be used in nuclear plant operation or nuclear fuel or waste handling and disposal. • Prepare technical reports of findings or recommendations, based on synthesized analyses of test results. • Prepare environmental impact statements, reports, or presentations for regulatory or other agencies. • 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 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. • 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. • Discuss construction project proposals with interested parties, such as vendors, contractors, or nuclear facility review boards. • Perform experiments that will provide information about acceptable methods of nuclear material usage, nuclear fuel reclamation, or waste disposal. • Conduct environmental studies on topics such as nuclear power generation, nuclear waste disposal, or nuclear weapon deployment. • Design or direct nuclear research projects to develop, test, modify, or discover new uses for theoretical models. • Keep abreast of developments and changes in the nuclear field by reading technical journals or by independent study and research.