So, I had a huge promising college career. I was accepted to Penn State, put on an accelerated program, on the main campus and everything. But, coming from Texas, it was too expensive. I was going to go from Mechanical Eng to Nuclear, with the help and permissions of Penn State. Instead, I ended up at UTSA. Got accepted for a double major of MechE and ElecE. Again, main campus and all great resources. But I have no family, so I have to pay bills and rent. Got too expensive, so I dropped out, worked at McDonald's. Thought my dreams of NukeE was over, but I got a job at TowerSemiconductor as a fabrication operator. Nothing special or fancy, but through the Texas FAME program I could get an associate's degree in Advanced Manufacturing. My question is: can I use that associate's to turn around, go back to school (likely online) and do nuclear engineering while working a 12hr/3-or4 day week, or is NukeE over with, done? I'm 20, so I naturally already feel like I'm too late for this. And if I can turn this around, what should I focus on for this next year or so to get prepared? Assume that I am lower than a novice. I know this is a lot, but its been weighing heavily on my mind recently. Sorry for the rant.

Yeah it's day 1 and I am now in molecular weight and atomic weight and I do not currently understand the equations above I do understand the parts like M but what is the purposes for these equations and how to use them correctly. Thank you for the support if you want to know I'm making a game that I want to be really accurate and this is just one part of it and I feel I should know it. Thanks

Hey all,

Recently I've been messing around with different software ideas that might be useful in nuclear engineering. I settled on a rather niche, open-source activation inventory code named ACTINV.

You give it a material, particle flux spectrum, irradiation/cooling schedule, and nuclear data, and it calculates things like nuclide inventories, activity, decay heat, photon sources, and production pathways.

It's in a similar space to FISPACT, but ACTINV is completely open source and free to use, has both Python and command-line interfaces, and puts a lot of emphasis on reproducibility and keeping the underlying inputs/data visible. I did use AI in the development of this project.

Also, FISPACT is still substantially broader in some areas, so I'm definitely not claiming ACTINV replaces everything it does.

I'm not a nuclear engineer, so I'd really appreciate feedback from people who actually work with activation calculations. If anyone wants to try it, compare it with what you already use, or tell me where it falls short, that would be helpful.

GitHub: https://github.com/AvilaLabs/ACTINV

I'm 15 but would like to be a Nuclear Engineer, so i wonder if anyone could advise me what steps to follow, what to learn, what to prioritize, where to study (preferably in Peru, but open to options) and how to make things work out and not end up changing my mind in the middle of the career.

I still have about a year and a half before applying for university, so please help me out on this one

Hello, I’m a student looking at colleges currently, and curious about if anyone has any idea on what a pre-med major with a Nuclear Engineering minor would be like? I did some research and found people who said that majoring in both is likely to kill your GPA, and rather to just take general electives if you’re genuinely interested in nuclear phenomena (which I am). I am curious though if getting a minors in NERS is a viable and not a stupidly absurd approach. Hopefully by the end of this year I would get Calc, physics, and chemistry credits too if that helps.

Sorry if it’s a dumb question, once again I am not too familiar with the college process.

Random question here I am going to be making a realistic engineering game and want to include nuclear engineering is there any accurate resources I could use to make it as accurate as possible?

Any ideas on options for improvement in designs of Small Modular Reactors and their application on the thermal side for hydrogen or desalination. Any innovative ideas??

I'm about to enter 9th grade and I'm super passionate for nuclear engineering. I want to do it for a living and don't have much doubts but still want second opinions from experts and people who've been in this field for a while. I'm pretty set on NE for a living but am having doubts for my university/college. I'm aiming for high schools like MIT or University of Wisconsin (which is apparently one of the best universities in the world for NE). I was wondering if NE is a career with good progression. I've done a little bit of research, and I know that NE pays better than most engineering disciplines, but the overall job expansion seems pretty stagnant which is daunting. I don't live in the US. I live in the UAE as a Canadian citizen. I'm either going to study in Canada or in the US/abroad if I get into a great university. My questions are, is NE a good career to get into in this day and age, and am I better of studying civil engineering? I heard that NE and civil engineering are pretty similar and that I can probably get a NE job despite studying civil. Apparently, the perks of studying civil are that I can still get into a NE job and I can get civil engineering jobs, which gives me a wider range, which might be good because the NE job growth seems pretty stagnant (according to US government sources, total jobs are planning to go down by 1% in the next 10 years). My concern with studying civil engineering instead of NE are that it's gonna make my years in university miserable. Regardless of the discipline, engineering is HARD, and I thought studying specifically NE, which I'm passionate about, would make it better for me, and I'm worried I won't make it through the same if I don't take NE, and I've heard that your years in university are the years where your life either makes it, or breaks. Any opinions on NE as an engineer at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

Does anyone know of a discord server that I would be able to join to talk about nuclear engineering? Just wondering

I’m considering a site engineering/supervisory role on the decommissioning of an RBMK-type reactor in Europe.

I have no previous nuclear experience, and while the employer knows that, I’m a bit worried about the learning curve and whether I’d be expected to know too much from day one.

For people working in nuclear/decommissioning:

How much nuclear knowledge is expected when starting?

How hard are the first few months?

Is RBMK decommissioning experience valuable for a long-term nuclear career?

What should I study before starting?

Any common mistakes newcomers should avoid?

Would appreciate any insight, especially from people who moved into nuclear from another industry.

Centrifuges dominate uranium enrichment today, but there is a renewed push toward laser isotope separation.

I recently went through the main approaches in some detail: historical AVLIS and MLIS, SILEX, and the newer CRISLA work. My impression is that there was never any significant problem associated with the physics of the processes itself. AVLIS reached pilot-plant scale decades ago, yet the U.S. program was abandoned because the economics did not justify the additional capital required for commercialization. The classical MLIS had a different set of problems, such as complex laser architecture, process losses, and a multistage chemical loop.

But i feel that the situation has somehow changed, also maybe for the geopolitical situation and the need to push LEU/HALEU enrichment in the Western.

The main character looks to be GLE that said its SILEX process reached TRL 6 following a six-month integrated demonstration campaign. On the other side LIS Technologies is developing CRISLA-3G, achieving officially TRL 4 and Hexium is trying to revive the AVLIS-based route. But none of these has yet become a routinely operating commercial uranium-enrichment plant.

I wrote an article considering the process basis and the current situation regarding uranium enrichment using laser spectroscopy. Just have a look here if you´re interested :)

So I’m in school for my associates degree in nuclear power engineering technology to be an operator. My school is partnered with TVA to make the process as easy as humanly possible. There’s just one problem- half way through my degree, I got a physical medical diagnosis that says physical labor is quite possibly the worst thing I could do and I won’t last long in that field (lupus- and I’ve had issues with my joints for over a decade already). So I guess I’m asking what I could do with such a specific associates degree?? I love the field and I’m a natural born math and science based thinker, but I don’t want to risk my quality of life within months of being a trained operator. Originally I wanted to work my way up and work in one of their training facilities, but (and I totally respect this) you need to have experience with boots on the ground and be a licensed senior operator for this position. Any suggestions on what to look for??

Is it because it doesn’t produce greenhouse gas emissions, it’s clean energy, and after the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima disasters?

hi all ,

I'm graduating this year with a BEng in Nuclear Engineering from a UK university, and I've been applying for grad roles for months now with almost nothing to show for it. I'd really value some honest perspective from people already in the industry, because at this point I can't tell if I'm missing something obvious.

A few things I think might be counting against me.

The big one is my degree. I finished with a 2:2, roughly 1–2% off a 2:1. There were personal circumstances during my exams behind that, but I know a lot of grad schemes set a 2:1 as a hard minimum, so I assume a good chunk of my applications never get past the filter. Nobody even reads the rest of the CV.

Then there's the fact that I'm international. I'm not a UK or EU national, and I'm genuinely open to relocating anywhere for the right role. What I don't have a good feel for is how much that actually matters in nuclear specifically, both on visa sponsorship and on security clearance. That last part is what I'm most unsure about. Is clearance realistically achievable for someone without a long UK residency history, or does it just rule most of these roles out from the start?

And then the CV itself. I've got internships that feel relevant, including one at an accelerator research institute, a couple of co-authored publications from undergrad, and a final-year project I'm proud of. On paper it doesn't look terrible to me. But maybe it isn't landing the way I think it is, or maybe I'm aiming at the wrong companies entirely.

So that's where I'm stuck. If anyone's willing to look over my CV and be honest about it, or can tell me how much the 2:1 cutoff and the clearance/visa side really weigh in practice, I'd be hugely grateful. I'm trying to work out whether to keep firing off applications, rethink the whole approach, or just fix one specific thing I haven't spotted.

Thanks in advance.

I’m an in-state Tennessee student looking at UTK. I’m interested in nuclear, and since UT has such a highly ranked nuclear engineering program, it seems like a good opportunity to get a strong degree for relatively cheap.
My main concern is how specialized nuclear is compared to something like mechanical. Long term, I’d also like to get an MS in nuclear engineering and an MBA, with the possibility of eventually moving to the business side of energy (consulting, project finance, investment banking, or PE).
Would it make more sense to do nuclear for undergrad and really take advantage of UT’s program, or do mechanical for the broader degree and specialize in nuclear with my master’s?
Also, for anyone in the industry, how difficult is it to move from engineering into the business/finance side of energy? Also how difficult is nuclear engineering compared to other engineering disciplines?

Hello everyone!

Im a senior in high school located near Charleston, SC and I need an external mentor for my Capstone project which without giving too much details is basically revolving around making my own geiger counter (dosimeter) alongside with a creative twist to it if I may add which I won't disclose.

There are required internal mentors which are staff inside the school and external mentors which are outside of the school. So I'm really struggling to find someone outside that has a nuclear engineering degree that can help me. Especially within the time frame. It is due by the first week of September.

I am not 100% sure of the work required from the external mentor but we would hold monthly meetings online, google meet, etc. And it isn't really a hard job to do I am sure of. This is my first time doing a capstone project though so I am not sure of everything.

Any advice for comments on where to find someone like this or a pool of interested people/community would be great and highly appreciated!!

My Atomic and Nuclear Physics requires a Karlsruhe Chart of the Nuclides, what is the best way to get one of these for less than hundreds of USD? I've found an app of one that seems good but I don't know what I'm really looking at or need from the chart really

Hello I recently graduated high school, and I'm looking into going to college for Nuclear engineering, and wanted to know a few things that I can't find a lot of information on.

1st. Would there be any problem between having a M.S or a M.R in nuclear engineering. Nothing I've found has told me anything concert, or much of anything at all.

2nd. Is there anything I can study before starting as I've taken a gap year since graduating early and I feel as if I need to get back into the mindset before learning new and harder things.

3rd. Is there any specific standardization badge I should look for when applying to colleges. I know there some for other engineering programs I'm just making sure there's none or is one for nuclear

Anyhow thank you for you're time, and maybe even your input <3

Hello,

I recently graduated from Texas A&M with a Mechanical Engineering degree. I have been working full time in an engineering firm but I am looking to getting a masters degree in nuclear engineering to advance my career. I wanted to ask if anyone had done an online master’s degree in either Texas A&M or NC State (I reside in North Carolina). What did you like or not like about it? I know it’s hard so I’m not even going to ask if it is difficult for either. But more so your experience if you felt it was worth it and an adequate education. I appreciate the help as I am looking to make a decision soon. Thank you!

Hello,

I am currently a third year PhD in Low Energy Experimental Nuclear. It's not really a field I feel super passionate about but I want to try moving towards plasma physics after my PhD since we don't really have a plasma program in my school.

I was wondering what specific steps could I do to move myself towards a post-doc or job position in plasma research?

Title. I have a degree in chemical engineering and at the present moment am trying to escape a pretty bad employment situation. The problem is that I live in a rural area, and because of personal obligations I can't relocate for the time being.

Advice?