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

In an O*NET survey, nuclear/nuclear power technology majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in nuclear/nuclear power technology should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to nuclear/nuclear power technology:

• 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

Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• 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).
• 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.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

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 careers associated with nuclear/nuclear power technology require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

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.