# Nuclear Engineers

US SOC code 17-2161. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/17-2161

Also called: Reactor engineer, Reactor physics engineer, Nuclear plant engineer, Nuclear reactor engineer, SMR engineer.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **15,280** US nuclear engineers, with median pay of **$133,970** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.ans.org/about/history/) of **1,500** from 1954, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for nuclear engineers: High-performance computing and digital twins, 2015 to 2023.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects little or no change in employment from 2025 to 2035 (+0.4%). Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=17-2161&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **47.5%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Nuclear Engineers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1942
- Latest US employment: 15,280 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Latest US median pay: $133,970 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [9]
- Outlook: +0.4% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [22]

### All 29 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1954 | 1,500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., ANS History [1] |
| 1965 | 12,000 (estimate) | $11,500 (estimate) | Est., National Academies Press (employment) [2]; Est., MSU CERI (pay) [7] |
| 1975 | 28,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EIA Today in Energy [3] |
| 1980 | n/a | $30,000 (estimate) | Est., MSU CERI [7] |
| 1990 | 18,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., OSTI.GOV [4] |
| 2000 | 14,500 (estimate) | $79,000 (estimate) | Est., FRASER (employment) [5]; Est., FRASER (pay) [8] |
| 2003 | 16,010 | $83,570 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [6] |
| 2004 | 17,180 | $84,880 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [6] |
| 2005 | 14,290 | $88,290 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [6] |
| 2006 | 14,870 | $90,220 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [6] |
| 2007 | 14,300 | $94,420 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [6] |
| 2008 | 16,640 | $97,080 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [6] |
| 2009 | 16,710 | $96,910 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [6] |
| 2010 | 18,610 | $99,920 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [6] |
| 2011 | 18,430 | $101,930 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [6] |
| 2012 | 19,930 | $104,270 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [6] |
| 2013 | 16,400 | $101,600 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [6] |
| 2014 | 16,520 | $100,470 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [6] |
| 2015 | 16,880 | $102,950 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [6] |
| 2016 | 17,680 | $102,220 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [6] |
| 2017 | 16,700 | $105,810 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [6] |
| 2018 | 15,980 | $107,600 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [6] |
| 2019 | 15,850 | $113,460 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [6] |
| 2020 | 15,700 | $116,140 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [6] |
| 2021 | 12,670 | $120,380 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [6] |
| 2022 | 12,250 | $122,480 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [6] |
| 2023 | 12,710 | $125,460 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [6] |
| 2024 | 14,740 | $127,520 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [6] |
| 2025 | 15,280 | $133,970 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [6] |

## Sources (91)

### Employment series

1. [ANS History — American Nuclear Society founding (1954): professional organization established as AEC civilian nuclear programs launched](https://www.ans.org/about/history/), American Nuclear Society
2. [National Academies Press — "U.S. Nuclear Engineering Education: Status and Prospects" (1990): historical enrollment and workforce context](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/1696/chapter/2), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
3. [EIA Today in Energy — "Most U.S. nuclear power plants were built between 1970 and 1990"](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30972), U.S. Energy Information Administration
4. [OSTI.GOV — "Labor market trends for nuclear engineers through 2000" (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, 1995, DOE/NRC-sponsored)](https://www.osti.gov/biblio/104445), Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education / DOE
5. [FRASER — Occupational Outlook Handbook 1998-99 Edition (BLS Bulletin No. 2500): nuclear engineers employment outlook discussion](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook-3964/occupational-outlook-handbook-1998-99-edition-583136), Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRASER
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

7. [MSU CERI — "Starting Salary Trends: College of Engineering 1978-1986" (historical salary context for 1960s-1970s engineering wages)](https://ceri.msu.edu/_assets/pdfs/Starting-Salary-Trends-Engineering-1978-1986.pdf), Michigan State University Career Services
8. [FRASER — Occupational Outlook Handbook 2002-03 Edition (BLS Bulletin No. 2540): nuclear engineers wage data context](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook-3964/occupational-outlook-handbook-2002-03-edition-583138/content/fulltext/bls_2540_2002_pt1), Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRASER
9. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
10. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

11. [Argonne National Laboratory — "Chicago Pile-1: A bold nuclear physics experiment with enduring impact" (CP-1 design methods)](https://www.anl.gov/article/chicago-pile-1-a-bold-nuclear-physics-experiment-with-enduring-impact), Argonne National Laboratory
12. [Brookhaven National Laboratory — ENDF nuclear data library history: established 1964, now the global standard cross-section database](https://www.nndc.bnl.gov/endf/), Brookhaven National Laboratory / NNDC
13. [ORNL — SCALE/ORIGEN history: ORIGEN code first released 1973, enabling burnup and decay-heat calculations for reactor fuel management](https://www.ornl.gov/scale), Oak Ridge National Laboratory
14. [NRC — Three Mile Island Accident: regulatory response, NUREG-1150 probabilistic risk assessment program, and post-TMI safety requirements](https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle), Nuclear Regulatory Commission
15. [NRC — Regulatory Guide 1.203 "Transient and Accident Analysis Methods" (Division 1, Power Reactors): RELAP5 / TRACE best-estimate plus uncertainty methodology for licensing-basis accident analysis](https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/power-reactors/rg/division-1/division-1-201.html), Nuclear Regulatory Commission
16. [LANL — MCNP5 release (2003): workstation-compatible Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport enabling routine shielding and criticality analysis](https://mcnp.lanl.gov/), Los Alamos National Laboratory
17. [Serpent 2 / VTT Technical Research Centre — continuous-energy Monte Carlo reactor physics code for group-constant generation (2004 initial release)](https://serpent.vtt.fi/), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
18. [Bentley Systems — iTwin digital twin platform: real-time nuclear plant state monitoring and predictive maintenance (2018 launch)](https://www.bentley.com/software/itwin-platform/), Bentley Systems
19. [DOE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program — $2.5B in contracts for TerraPower Natrium and X-energy Xe-100 (2020-2024): SMR simulation-first design workflows](https://www.energy.gov/ne/advanced-reactor-demonstration-program), U.S. Department of Energy
20. [OpenMC Project — GPU-accelerated Monte Carlo neutron transport (MIT, 2024 release): 10-100x runtime reduction for full-core calculations](https://openmc.org/), Massachusetts Institute of Technology / OpenMC developers
21. [INL — RAVEN (Risk Analysis Virtual ENvironment): probabilistic risk assessment automation and ML anomaly detection for nuclear systems](https://raven.inl.gov/), Idaho National Laboratory

### Forecasts and exposure studies

22. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 17-2161 Nuclear engineers (2025: 16.6 thousand; 2035: 16.6 thousand; +0.4%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=17-2161&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
23. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 17-2161.00, human-rated β 0.475)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

24. [Argonne National Laboratory — "Chicago Pile-1: A bold nuclear physics experiment with enduring impact"](https://www.anl.gov/article/chicago-pile-1-a-bold-nuclear-physics-experiment-with-enduring-impact), Argonne National Laboratory
25. [ANS Nuclear Newswire — "Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace: The Civilian Application Program II" (historical analysis of the 1953 speech and its consequences)](https://www.ans.org/news/article-1493/eisenhowers-atomic-power-for-peace-the-civilian-application-program-ii/), American Nuclear Society
26. [ANS History — American Nuclear Society: founding October 11, 1954; Walter Zinn first president; membership growth from 200 to 2,950 by end of the 1950s](https://www.ans.org/about/history/), American Nuclear Society
27. [ASME — "Shippingport Nuclear Power Station" engineering landmark designation: first full-scale commercial nuclear power plant, commissioned May 26, 1958](https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks/47-shippingport-nuclear-power-station), American Society of Mechanical Engineers
28. [HISTORY — "Three Mile Island: Accident, Nuclear and Meltdown" (March 28, 1979 accident and its consequences for the nuclear industry)](https://www.history.com/articles/three-mile-island), HISTORY
29. [World Nuclear Association — "Three Mile Island Accident" (historical context for the post-1979 and post-1986 industry contraction)](https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/three-mile-island-accident), World Nuclear Association
30. [EIA Today in Energy — "Most U.S. nuclear power plants were built between 1970 and 1990" (context for the 2016 Watts Bar Unit 2 completion)](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=30972), U.S. Energy Information Administration
31. [NRC New Reactors — NuScale VOYGR SMR Design Certification: first SMR design certification rule issued January 2023 (NRC new reactors feature, links to the certifying rule in the Federal Register)](https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/), Nuclear Regulatory Commission

### Predecessors & successors

32. [ANS History — American Nuclear Society founding (1954): nuclear physicists and early reactor engineers coalescing into a distinct profession](https://www.ans.org/about/history/), American Nuclear Society
33. [The Chemical Engineer — "History of Nuclear Engineering Part 3: Atoms for Peace" (chemical engineers among the founding practitioners)](https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/features/history-of-nuclear-engineering-part-3-atoms-for-peace/), The Chemical Engineer
34. [ASME — "60 Years in Motion: Short History of Nuclear Engineering Division" (mechanical engineers entering the nuclear profession)](https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/nuclearengineering/article/3/1/010801/369937/60-Years-in-Motion-Short-History-of-Nuclear), ASME Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science
35. [NEI — "A Nuclear Workforce: Growing and Sustainable" (2023): former naval nuclear officers as a consistent pipeline into civilian nuclear engineering](https://www.nei.org/news/2023/a-nuclear-workforce-growing-and-sustainable), Nuclear Energy Institute
36. [BLS OOH — Architectural and Engineering Managers: median annual wage $162,220 (2024); nuclear-background managers prevalent in SMR program leadership](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/architectural-and-engineering-managers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Nuclear Engineers (17-2161.00): tasks, knowledge, technology skills](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/17-2161.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Nuclear Engineers: 8% growth 2024-2034, $124,660 median annual wage](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/nuclear-engineers.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): occupational LLM exposure framework](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [NRC — NuScale Small Modular Reactor (US600) Design Certification: first SMR design certification issued January 2023 (10 CFR Part 52)](https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/advanced/who-were-working-with/past-license-activities/nuscale.html), accessed 2026-06-21
- [DOE — Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP): $2.5B in contracts for TerraPower Natrium, X-energy Xe-100 (2020-2024)](https://www.energy.gov/ne/advanced-reactor-demonstration-program), accessed 2026-05-24
- [OpenMC Project — Open-source Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code with GPU acceleration (MIT, 2024 release)](https://openmc.org/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [INL — RAVEN (Risk Analysis Virtual ENvironment): probabilistic risk assessment automation and ML anomaly detection for nuclear systems](https://raven.inl.gov/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Westinghouse Nuclear — Digital Optimization Services: plant health monitoring, AI analytics, and equipment reliability management for nuclear fleet operations (2024)](https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/operating-plants/digital-optimization-services), accessed 2026-06-21
- [LANL — MCNP6.3 release notes: improved parallel performance, enhanced variance reduction for shielding design (2023)](https://mcnp.lanl.gov/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Siemens Energy — digital services portfolio: plant engineering, AI-assisted P&ID management, and nuclear plant documentation workflow automation (2024)](https://www.siemens-energy.com/global/en/home.html), accessed 2026-06-21
- [GE Vernova — SmartSignal predictive analytics: AI/ML continuous equipment health monitoring for nuclear plant rotating and static assets](https://www.gevernova.com/software/products/predictive-analytics), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Bentley Systems — iTwin digital twin platform: real-time nuclear plant state monitoring and predictive maintenance (2024)](https://www.bentley.com/software/itwin-platform/), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.