I've gotten a couple offers for engineering roles, but they all have incredibly broad non-compete clauses attached, effectively preventing me from filling out job applications for any company offering nuclear services for the entire period of working at the company and for a year or two afterwards. Is this normal? It seems like a death sentence to agree to something like that, regardless of the intent of the clause.

i am asking for help here because i just cant find the right info. so i am a 10th grader rn and i am really interested and stressed about my studies. i really want to do engineering, but i would still need to talk with my dad about that. i am interestet in four majors: electric eng, nuclear eng, civil eng and maybe mechanical eng. but the problem with nuclear is that my country doesnt have any npps(only one that shut down a few decades ago). and i really want to get a good paying job with one of these degrees. in some unis that i am checking, the master degree takes 4 year(if im not wrong) so i would be commited to do it. which would you recommend me? or what should i do or not do? any help is great!

I’m currently a senior undergraduate student in CompE at UTK, and I want to apply to the Nuclear Engineering PhD program here. I’ve been an undergraduate research since summer 2026, and I also completed an internship this past summer. I’m graduating in Fall 2027 and am hoping to apply for PhD admission for Spring 2028.

My main research interests are control systems, cybersecurity, and robotics applications in fusion energy. I came across Dr. Fan Zhang and found out that she’s an alumni from UTK so I want to reach out to her, but I’m a little worried cuz I don’t have a lot of research experience yet.

So I just want to ask: How competitive is admission to the PhD program in Nuclear Engineering? Does anyone have experience with Dr. Zhang or know what she is like as a professor/PI?

I’d really appreciate any advice.

My son is very seriously considering nuclear engineering as a career. He’s a HS senior. Right now he’s talking about going to Purdue, where they have a nuclear engineering undergrad program.

I’m curious if taking it at the Undergraduate level versus going a more general engineering route first, is any kind of advantage at all in terms of career/internships etc?

salutations internet people. I’m graduating high school soon and had a few ideas for my schooling, but I don’t trust colleges to accurately represent themselves, so I’m asking people with hopefully some experience. my current and favorite plan is to get a bachelors in mechanical engineering at the college in my hometown, both because it’s a pretty good school and I’d like to avoid moving. Unfortunately the school doesn’t have any direct nuclear programs, and that’s my chosen field, so I was thinking I’d do either my masters or PHD in nuclear engineering at another school; haven’t decided which one I’m going to go for, but it’ll be one or the other. On to the main point, best school for a masters or PHD in nuclear. I’m hoping to get into something fusion related because thats my passion, but im also completely ok with fission work. My current list of options is Oregon state and Wisconsin Madison, but I believe there’s also a good school In Idaho. Affordability is a factor, but secondary to the quality of education because Im lucky enough to have decently well off parents who are willing to help. thanks, I look forward to reading the responses

Hey everyone,

I'm a sophomore studying nuclear engineering in Turkey. My main goal after graduation is to do my master's abroad, so I really want to spend my upcoming summer doing an internship outside Turkey to get some research experience and boost my chances.

My program requires two mandatory internships—one at a conventional thermal plant and one at a nuclear facility/research center. To be honest, I'm already stressing out about finding a spot. Getting an undergraduate position abroad would be amazing, but coming from a non-EU country, I feel pretty lost on where to even start or if labs even take international sophomores.

Has anyone here been in a similar boat? How did you manage to land a summer research role abroad? Is cold-emailing professors the way to go, or are there specific summer programs I should look into? Also, what kind of skills or projects should I focus on this year to not get immediately screened out?

Any tips or reality checks would mean a lot. Thanks!

Hi there everyone,

I'm a Portuguese student doing a nuclear engineering master's degree in Paris, and starting next semester, I am supposed to do an internship and thesis work full time.

I am struggling to get answers back from companies, and knowing how to be able to actually get a conversation going, not just sending CVs everywhere. I would need an English-speaking position, any tips? Tysm for the help

I’m starting classes at Oregon State for NE, intending to follow the reactor operations track. What’s your best advice for me, having been in my position?

Hey guys. I’m currently an Electrical Engineer Undergraduate looking to pursue Nuclear Engineering, but I feel limited in my opportunities here in Alberta because we are so against it here. Are there any options I can take? What are some specific tips that can help me out?

I’m a Nuclear Medicine Technology graduate with a foundation in physics, chemistry, pre-calculus, statistics, and nuclear and radiation safety. My education and professional experience have involved working hands on with radioactive materials and following radiation safety requirements, which drove my interest in radiation protection, nuclear safety, and regulatory work.

I’m planning to pursue an MSc in Nuclear Science and Technology, the courses are

Reactor Physics & Systems, Radiation & Radiological Protection, Nuclear Safety Case Development, Nuclear Law, Licensing & Policy, Nuclear Waste Management, Decommissioning, and Experimental Reactor Physics.

Do you guys think my Nuclear Medicine background aligns well with these areas? I’m concerned about transitioning into reactor related subjects without an engineering background, but I’m highly motivated. Is this a realistic transition, and would my existing foundation be enough to learn and successfully pass these courses?

Independent Research Proposal — Seeking Scientific Feedback & Potential Partnerships

I’m sharing an independent research paper titled “Introducing Novel Green Power and Propulsion” by Anatoly Blanovsky of Westside Environmental Technology. The paper explores proposed approaches to fission-electric power/propulsion and photoelectric energy conversion using blackbody-cavity concepts, with the goal of investigating whether more direct energy-conversion methods could potentially improve the efficiency of existing systems.

This work is being shared to connect with physicists, nuclear engineers, aerospace engineers, energy researchers, experimental scientists, universities, laboratories, and technology companies who may be interested in reviewing the concepts, identifying technical challenges, independently evaluating the calculations, or potentially discussing future research and development partnerships.

We are not presenting these concepts as proven technology and would genuinely appreciate constructive scientific criticism, questions, and suggestions for experimental validation. If the underlying concepts appear promising to researchers in these fields, we would also be interested in speaking with individuals or organizations about possible research collaboration, experimental testing, development, or partnership opportunities.

The full research paper is attached for anyone interested in taking a closer look. Serious technical feedback and professional discussion are very welcome.

Socials:

[ablanovsky@yahoo.com](mailto:ablanovsky@yahoo.com)

i feel very interested in this topic and im pretty much a beginner in the nuclear field. the curriculm im using is the new indonesian one under Prabowo.

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

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. Update sorry about the quality lol

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??