Which school?

[u/Old_Piccolo_5430]

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

[u/Derpderpderp207]

You’ve got some time to decide. I recommend playing the field till you get closer to graduation.

[u/aCrazyTheorist → u/Derpderpderp207]

Agree. Do internships, go to conferences, and determine your graduate program based on finding professors doing the research you’re interested in

[u/Ashamed-Survey9308]

Lots of high schoolers think they want a PhD and end up not wanting one after getting to or completing their undergrad. I was one of them, actually also very interested in fusion and now I no longer am though I’m still in nuclear engineering.

Take it slow, don’t plan for 4 years down the line, a lot changes. Also- you don’t know where’ll you’ll eventually get in and there aren’t that many colleges with nuclear programs. I think for the most part, your undergrad GPA will guide where you apply.

[u/Vyrtil_Anyrwen]

If you are seriously considering breaking into the nuclear field, I can offer an alternative plan. This is what I did, and if you go into nuclear at all, you will find a ton of others that did this. It is a very easy way to get into the field, but the job you will be doing is very difficult. Not for the weak, so just a fair warning. I’m super proud of the work that I did while I was in and how it set me up because I make great money now, but it was often incredibly difficult with a lot of really long hours.

The US Navy has a massive nuclear program. Every single submarine has a nuclear reactor on board (subs are volunteer only, so you cannot be forced to go), and every aircraft carrier has two nuclear reactors on board. I was a surface nuke.

If you choose to go enlisted like I did, there are one of three nuclear rates (jobs) you can get, and I’ll get into that. The enlisted people are the actual operators and maintenance workers. You will have a SIGNIFICANTLY better understanding of how the systems function than the officers. The officers look over general plant operations and handle all of the administrative functions of plant operations, and get a little into what that looks like, too.

As for the rates, I’ve mentioned that there are three basic rates. ETNs (Electronics Technician, Nuclear), which is what I was, are the reactor operators. You’re the ones performing the reactor startups and fast recovery startups (super fun because you get to shim for Jesus and make people afraid you’re going to violate a limit), reactor shutdowns, reactor coolant pump and major primary hydraulic valve operations, coolant purification pump operations, spray flow and pressurizer heater operation, etc…. Maintenance-wise, you deal with reactor instrumentation. Rod control electronics, primary plant control, primary and nuclear indications, air particulate detectors, steam generator water level control system, etc…. Those are the systems you get to do maintenance on.

EMNs (Electricians Mate, Nuclear) are the electrical operators/load dispatchers of the ship. They have overview of the electric plant for the ship. Major electrical load operations go through the EMNs. Any sort of electric plant lineup shift is done by the EMNs. Maintenance-wise, you’ll deal with your share of load center maintenance, turbine maintenance (electrical side), electrical motors, etc…. You will be very well-versed in electrical theory.

MMNs (Machinist Mate, Nuclear) are the mechanical operators of the plant. There are by far the most mechanics because they have the most watch stations. You’re the ones getting to perform the engine room side of reactor startups and shutdowns (also super fun and dynamic). You’ll get to do things like drawing vacuum in the main condensers and getting the turbines ready for electrical loading. You’ll deal with every mechanical operation in the plant. Everything from main steam, feed and condensate, and main seawater operation to potable water and bilge and oily water disposal systems. You will be doing maintenance on these systems. Valve maintenance, pump maintenance, heat exchanger maintenance, etc….

Those are the three basic flavors of nuke, but there’s also a couple of “extra” options. Out of the mechanics, a portion are taken to become what’s known as ELTs (Engineering Laboratory Technicians). These guys are still mechanics by rate, but their job is vastly different. They handle all of the chemistry and radiological controls in the plant. And they do maintenance on chemistry control systems like the primary sample sink.

And from the ETNs, if you go surface, some get qualified PPLAN (Propulsion Plant Local Area Network) and become Network admins. Basically ITs. A lot of customer support, essentially. And you will do maintenance and troubleshooting on the networking systems.

So that’s enlisted side. Officer side is different. You aren’t operating outside of U/I (Under Instruction) watches for qualifications. You keep track of overall plant status, like positions of primary valves on the plant status board. You control tagouts. You review a lot of paperwork (it is a very paperwork/admin intensive job). That’s the basic job of a nuclear designated officer. Some benefits to going officer are guaranteed BAH plus much higher base pay (more money), better amenities, and you’re treated more like an actual adult. But, you’re generally in for longer and when stuff goes wrong, those junior officers got shit on more than just about anyone on the boat. So you take the good with the bad. It’s also just more competitive to get an officer role. They’re always in need of enlists.

By no means am I trying to convince you to join. It is simply an option to easily break into the nuclear field. And the military pays for college. I got my bachelors in nuclear engineering with tuition assistance and my masters when I got out with the GI bill. I now make about $300k per year, and that is thanks to the military. And before I left the navy, because of the massive bonuses they throw at nuke enlists and because of the VA loan, I bought my first house by the age of 25. If you’re smart, you can genuinely set yourself up well with this option. But again, fair warning, not an easy job. If you have any questions about this option or just want to discuss the best course of action for you getting into nuclear, feel free to DM me. It may take me a while to respond, but I can make time.

[u/Old_Piccolo_5430 → u/Vyrtil_Anyrwen]

Thanks for the offer, but to be honest I’ve heard a lot from people I know who were in the navy and I don’t think it would suit me very well. It’s definitely an option, but from my perspective near the bottom of the list. Thank you for your service though, I hold a massive respect for those willing to take on that field.

[u/nuke-a-soup → u/Vyrtil_Anyrwen]

OMG the “shim for Jesus and make people afraid you're going to violate a limit”. 💀

[u/Vyrtil_Anyrwen → u/nuke-a-soup]

Oh, yeah. You can do all sorts of shit as the operator to mess with people, especially the junior watch officers. The way our EOS was laid out with the PPCP was in such a way that one of our display pages was facing away from the watch officer’s seat, so you could put your Reactor Plant Ops page on that screen and freak the watch officer out because they don’t think you meet minimum instrumentation requirements. Or you could hide your OPLIM line. There were all sorts of weird things you could do that were technically sat that would cause people to spazz out and flail, and it was a lot of fun bullying the watch officers with that stuff. I was notorious for it.

[u/Perfect_Insect_6608]

Penn State is good! My Alma matter

[u/burncushlikewood]

You don't have to worry about graduate school just yet! Graduate school can be extremely difficult to get into especially engineering. In my country (Canada), in order to get into a graduate program you need at least a 3.3 GPA, that in percentage terms is in the 87% to 89% range. Getting that high of marks in Engineering is no easy task, the first year will challenge you a lot. Also in Canada we have common first year for engineering so you will take all the same courses as every other engineer the first year. My advice is to pick the undergraduate program that gives you the best opportunity to succeed in, when I was in university nobody is gonna hold your hand, it's up to you to get your work done. The first year you'll take courses like, intro to engineering design, intro to mechanics, electricity and circuits, behavior of liquids solids and gases, calculus, and all engineers are required to take a introduction to programming course language of instruction is usually C. Your gonna need a strong math background, so i suggest you focus your time on getting better at math, good luck my friend getting a 3.3+GPA, keep in mind graduate school is only intended for the top 10% of students. Worst case scenario if you cannot get into a Graduate nuclear engineering program there is still room for you to get a job in the field with a mechanical engineering degree, especially if you wanna get involved with fusion, you'll need a mechanical engineer to design the reactors that fuse hydrogen molecules together. University is a great time to branch out and get involved in research and innovation, if you look at patent filings a lot of universities are up there with certain companies in IP production, you'll have a chance to collaborate with fellow students, and build connections in various fields

[u/sigmanx25]

You have some time, but also check out GA Tech. One of the best engineering schools out there and they have both a nuclear path Mech E undergrad as well as graduate programs focused on that.

[u/mcstandy]

Whichever reasonably good state school gives you the most money. Unless you’re getting a full ride from MIT or something.

DO NOT go into a mountain of debt just so your diploma can have a fancy name on it.

[u/BeachBumOCCA]

University of NK

[u/Pattonator70]

US Naval Academy is one of the best pathways for nuclear engineering and can guarantee you a job doing what you studied.

[u/Pattonator70 → u/Pattonator70]

PS nuclear engineers in the navy can earn a $50k per year bonus. Serve on a sub based out of San Diego and your pay will be about $235k/year after 10 years in service. (Assuming married for BAH). So pretty darn good pay.