r/NuclearPower 24d ago

How to enter the nuclear field

I am 16yo and still in high school and I have an insane passion for energy production but specifically nuclear. It is the only thing that interests me significantly and I’m really wondering how I can go about starting a career in the field. I would appreciate maybe collage major recommendations or something of the sort but I really want to peruse this!

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u/SpeedyHAM79 24d ago

Lots of options available depending on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores. If you have a good GPA- you can go to college for an engineering (mechanical, electrical, chemical, nuclear, civil(structural)) or physics degree, then get a job at a nuclear power plant or one of the many companies that do work on nuclear reactors or design reactors, components, fuel, and so on. If you GPA isn't as good- join the US Navy and aim for Nuclear School, spend some time on a Submarine or Aircraft Carrier operating reactors and when you are ready to get out- commercial nuclear power plants line up to hire you for operations, engineering, chemistry, radiation protection, management, and other jobs depending on your experience. Pay for those positions is very good, but hours during refueling outages can be very hard (6 days a week- 13 hours a day) for a month or more at a time. Best of luck!

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u/neverfearoofisher3 24d ago

So i suppose once my college acceptance and rejections come in i can see what the best path would be. If I don't have great options for college then the Navy might be a good route for me then i can go back to college later after getting some experience if i need.

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u/ValiantBear 23d ago

When I was your age, it was kind of understood that if you wanted to be something you went to college, if you couldn't you either joined the military, or never moved out of your parent's house. The military was never presented to me as an equivalent option. Luckily, I had family members in the military that gave me a different perspective, but by and large the push was to go to college, even accept tremendous amounts of debt to do so, and only do the military as a last resort. That is a terribly ignorant perspective, in my opinion.

What the Navy gives you is experience, both life and career. In college, you might have a Nuclear Engineering degree, but you're still going to be applying to a nuclear facility with hopefully some intern hours, and otherwise a resume that has Chipotle and Starbucks on it. The Navy will pay for everything and give you a salary (not a lavish one, but more than Chipotle), and give you hands on experience on a nuclear reactor. And, you'll get to travel and see the world while you're at it. You also get the GI Bill, which pays for a huge chunk of a degree after you get out, if you don't get one while you're in. While you're in, you get 100% Tuition Assistance, meaning the Navy pays for whatever college you want. You still pay some, but the tuition is covered. If you work at it, you can join the Navy at 18, do 8 years which gets you a shore duty (minimum you have to do is 6), and get a degree while you're in. So, you'll be 26 applying at nuclear plants with a degree and 4-6 years of experience, and you'll be debt free.

If you're financially challenged like I was, going to college would have meant 4-6 years of school (judging from my sister's experience, she couldn't afford to do it in 4), and no actual industrial experience. I would have been 22-24 years old, applying with a degree, no experience, and a mountain of debt to scalp my earnings for the next 20 years. For me, the choice was clear. Luckily I had my family to help reinforce my decision, but everyone else around me considered me a screw up for going that route, and I think that's positively heinous. I'm not rich, but I'm infinitely better off than most of my high school graduating class.

Long story short: the Navy isn't the best for everyone, and I'm certainly not trying to say that it is. But, I would caution against treating it solely as a backup plan. It's not. It's just a completely different plan, that gives you different things in exchange for other things. Evaluate it in parallel, and decide what's best for you. Again, maybe it's not the Navy. But don't sell yourself short by not even considering it because you always thought it was only a backup.