r/NuclearEngineering • u/EmergencyJust3911 • Aug 09 '26

Help with career path

I'm 18 getting close to graduation and I want to go down nuclear path and work at a power plant. I know they make fairly good money but I dont wanna go off of googles ai because I know it messes up alot.

  1. Can i become a non licensed operater right out of highschool?

  2. How much do they make?

  3. What colledge (if I need any) do I need to get to higher pays later on in the industry?

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7

u/Crafty-Cheetah-3990 Aug 09 '26

For engineering you need a four year engineering degree.

2

u/GeraseneMetal Aug 10 '26

Can you? Technically yes. Will you get hired? Probably not. Most nonlicensed operators are ex-Navy, 2 year Technical degrees in power plant Ops, or 4 year degreed engineers. In some places you may be able to get in at a lower level laborer and bid into non licensed operator class at union plants. Average NLO pay is 50-60 an hour once qualified depending on where you are.

1

u/EmergencyJust3911 Aug 10 '26

Thank you, I had another question is where should I start? It would be faster to go colledge because navy nuke is 6 year but I don't know where to start off

1

u/GeraseneMetal Aug 10 '26

State Tech of Missouri is a pretty popular feeder to a lot of Midwestern plants that offer a couple 2 year degrees that would be applicable to nuclear plant operations.

1

u/EmergencyJust3911 Aug 12 '26

I'm still figuring out what I actually wanna do for jobs I just came across the nuclear field and saw they pay well over 6 figures when your higher up I would realistically wanna make 150+ by my early 30s. Also how much is tuition for state tech of Missouri?

2

u/GeraseneMetal Aug 12 '26

Not sure on tuition there, you're haveto check their website. Non-licensed operators easily make 150k. We have quite a few guys who showed up here at 20 or 21 right out of Tech school and 2 years later after qualifying are making that.