What is a Nuclear Engineer?

A nuclear engineer is someone who works with atomic particles. This field is incredibly diverse, encompassing everything from building high powered nuclear weapons to developing new techniques in nuclear medicine with the goal of diagnosing disease. Working conditions for nuclear engineers typically include long hours in a laboratory environment, and most nuclear engineers are good at working on teams to solve complex problems. Pay scales in this field vary widely, depending on what type of work a nuclear engineer does and what sort of training he or she has received. As a general rule, most people enter this field out of genuine interest, rather than a desire to make money. To become a nuclear engineer, someone must generally receive a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering and then pursue graduate level coursework. In some cases, someone can work as a technician on a nuclear reactor such as one found in a power plant with only a bachelor's degree, but people who are interested in w ... more

Nuclear engineers apply knowledge of atomic nuclei to design, build, and operate special equipment that is useful to humanity. These applications fall into several broad categories, including fission power, radiation detection, nuclear medicine, nuclear materials, and plasma science. These categories overlap all the time, since nuclear materials knowledge is required for all applications, nuclear medicine and fission power depend on accurate radiation detection, and so on. ... more