Nuclear Safety Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Nuclear Safety Engineer oversees operations and maintains the safety of nuclear power systems, including nuclear power plants, ships or other plants that use nuclear technology. Develops and documents nuclear safety procedures. Reviews nuclear plant construction design and maintenance. Oversees handling of nuclear waste and monitors compliance with safety regulations.
Job Outlook
There were 11 Nuclear Safety Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 950 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Nuclear Engineer industry, which includes the Nuclear Safety Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Nuclear Safety Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $121,631.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $121,631.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Nuclear Safety Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $107,024.
Education and Experience
Posted Nuclear Safety Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 81.47% |
| Master's Degree | 39.26% |
| Doctoral Degree | 15.16% |
| Other | 0.63% |
Posted Nuclear Safety Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 18.51% |
| 3 to 5 years | 37.29% |
| 6 to 8 years | 13.12% |
| 9+ years | 31.08% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Nuclear Safety Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Operations (37.37%)
- Management (34.11%)
- Communication (30.63%)
- Investigation (19.79%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (17.47%)
- Mathematics (16.74%)
- Leadership (15.26%)
- Problem Solving (13.47%)
- Presentations (13.26%)
- Planning (13.05%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Systems Engineering (24.76%)
- Hazard Analysis (39.12%)
- Nuclear Power (30.12%)
- Risk Analysis (23.04%)
- Nuclear Criticality Safety (10.4%)
- System Safety (41.48%)
- Safety Standards (15.01%)
- Nuclear Safety (33.55%)
- Military Standards And Specifications (27.12%)
- System Safety Assessment (7.18%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Physical Science (3.54%)
- Human Factors (4.93%)
- Accident Analysis (8.47%)
- Auditing (15.11%)
- Fault Tree Analysis (18.97%)
- Address Resolution Protocols (10.4%)
- Computer Science (7.61%)
- Chemistry (7.93%)
- Electrical Engineering (9.43%)
- Failure Causes (8.36%)
- Failure Mode And Effects Analysis (8.04%)
- Failure Mode Effects And Criticality Analysis (FMECA) (7.61%)
- Regulatory Compliance (7.18%)
- Functional Safety (3.32%)
- Mechanical Engineering (9.75%)
- Hazard Identification (3.43%)
- Physics (17.58%)
- Nuclear Engineering (15.43%)
- Verification And Validation (4.93%)
- Project Management (11.25%)
- Safety Engineering (16.4%)
- Software Technical Review (8.25%)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (5.04%)
- Software Engineering (4.29%)
- Environment Health And Safety (10.08%)
- Systems Design (13.08%)
- Process Safety (7.4%)
- Mitigation (7.29%)
- Industry Standards (5.79%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- ARP4761 (6.54%)
- Thermal Hydraulics (2.57%)
- RELAP5-3D (5.14%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Thermal Hydraulics (15.89%)
- Nuclear Criticality Safety (64.24%)
- RELAP5-3D (31.79%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Nuclear Safety Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- System Safety Engineer
- Safety Engineer
- Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer
- Safety Analyst
- Process Safety Engineer
- Product Safety Engineer
- Principal Systems Engineer
- Functional Safety Engineer
- Principal Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Nuclear Engineer
- Aerospace Engineer
- Aerospace Engineering Manager
- Mechanical Systems Engineer
- Safety Manager (General)
- General Engineering Technician / Technologist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Nuclear Safety Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Westinghouse Electric Company (47)
- Primient (35)
- Amentum (32)
- Edgewater Technical Associates (26)
- Northrop Grumman (24)
- Actalent (21)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (19)
- Blue Origin (16)
- Lockheed Martin (13)
- Boeing (12)
North Carolina
- Duke Energy (4)
- GE Vernova (3)
- Zachry Brands (2)
- Terrestrial Energy (1)
- Nascar (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.