Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology

Types of Degrees Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many nuclear/nuclear power technology/technician graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	66
Associate Degree	45
Bachelor’s Degree	3

What Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to nuclear/nuclear power technology and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Skills for Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Majors

When studying nuclear/nuclear power technology, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Majors

As you progress with your nuclear/nuclear power technology degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of nuclear/nuclear power technology majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	3
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology

Some degrees associated with nuclear/nuclear power technology may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for nuclear/nuclear power technology careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	40.6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	17.1%
Some College Courses	7.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	24.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	11.0%

Online Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	7	0
Bachelor’s Degree	3	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to nuclear/nuclear power technology.

Major	Number of Grads
Industrial Radiologic Technology/Technician	191
Other Nuclear & Industrial Radiologic Technologies/Technicians	14

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.