Nuclear Engineers study and try to understand the principles of radioactive elements of extract energy for various beneficial uses. There are various uses of nuclear energy – many armies are equipped with nuclear weapons as a method to keep peace, in medicine they are used to treat several ailments like heart diseases, cancer, gastrointestinal, neurological disorders, etc. Many cities are powered by nuclear energy with the help of nuclear power plants. The core understanding principles of nuclear engineering are mostly derived from nuclear physics, chemistry, plasma physics, mathematics, fluid dynamics, nuclear reactor theory, nuclear fission, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

• Must possess at least 50% aggregate from a recognized institution in 12th, from any board PUC/CBSE/ICSE/ISC, etc. However, the cut-off margin varies with the selection process of different colleges. Requires a high-school/PUC from a science background.
• Should procure a valid score in entrance exams such as JEE-Main, KIITEE, SRMJEE, CEE, HITSEE, CET, etc., Different colleges offer their own entrance exams if you don’t have a satisfactory score in JEE or other competitive exams – colleges like NMIMS, Symbiosis International University, XUB, Andhra University, LPU, etc. Every state offers their own entrance exam as well.
• One must earn a degree in B.Sc/B.Tech or a Diploma to become a Nuclear Engineer. This is a basic qualification you must require to enroll in this line of work.
• An M.Tech can also prove to be helpful while looking for a higher degree and better learning.

Tasks to perform

• Ensure the regulation of corrective measures or methods to shutdown the power plants during an emergency.
• Supervise operations conducted to identify the problems in machinery, methods of operation, that breach the safety protocols or other methods that sabotage the well-being of the people or the facility.
• Directing the operations or schemes to ensure proper functioning of the nuclear facility, adhering to safety regulations.
• Involved in the development of better equipment, like radiation shielding, lead lined suits, infrastructures to reduce the escape of radiation.
• Propose proactive steps to be taken in the operation of nuclear energy on the basis of evidence collected from the analysis of activities or from the review of data collected.

Knowledge required

• Public Safety and Protection – Understanding the functioning of appropriate equipment, regulations, procedures and techniques to facilitate successful local, regional or national security measures for the protection of persons, records, property and institutions.
• Chemical Dexterity — Having a facility to understand the chemical properties, arrangement, and properties of the compounds and of the chemical reactions and transitions they experience. This involves the use and contact with chemicals, hazard signals, manufacturing processes and disposal practices.
• Application of Computers — Insight in the functioning of circuit boards, processors, chips, electrical devices, computer hardware and software, plus applications and programming.
• Apprehension of Physics — Predictive analytics of basic phenomena, laws, their interactions, and fluid, substance, and air mechanics interpretation techniques, and mechanical, electric, atomic and subatomic structures and processes understanding.
• English Language — Accustomed using the form and substance of the English, including the meaning and pronunciation of words, rules of structure and language

Skills required

• Problem Identification – Stating if there is a mistake or there will be an occurrence of a problem in the future. This potential is not directed towards finding a solution, but rather recognizing the problem.
• Sight — Clearly viewing and identifying details and components pertaining to the machinery from a close range or a long range.
• Speech Recognition — Understanding and interpreting details spoken by another person.
• Affluence of Ideas — Proposing an abundance of ideas when presented with a topic or a potential problem.
• Rapid Interpretation — Rapid Interpretation

Job roles offered

Once you procure the required qualifications for becoming an Academic Content Writer, a myriad of options are open to you. There are multiple projects you can undertake throughout this line of work, and there are many other fields you can branch out to as well.

• Physical scientist: A physical scientist is mainly involved in carrying out or overseeing research in a specific field of study. Job titles such as astrophysicist, chemical engineering, biochemistry, demographer, behavioral scientist, etc. Physical scientists are for the most part occupied in a laboratory (with occasional visits to the field of course), carry out experiments or provide observational data, analysis of findings, handling equipments in the field and devise empirical procedures to test the extracted information.
• Reactor Operator: Reactor operators are individuals stationed at a nuclear power plant, who are directly involved in facilitating the proper functioning of a nuclear reactor and are directly in charge of revising methods to control the reactivity of the reactor. Operators have to provide solutions to abnormalities faced by the reactor, understand the cause and effect and prevent any problems before they supersede the expectations. Health and Safety Specialist: Healthy and safety experts are required to thoroughly investigate the work area for physical, environmental or psychological factors that might undermine or affect the performance, health and safety of employees. They may also investigate factors such as proper ventilation, supply of equipments, health of employees, etc.
• Radiological Engineer: Radiological engineers specialize in developing or redesigning equipments with association to nuclear materials like replacing depleted reactor cores, changing or refilling the coolant, overseeing operations of nuclear reactor or power plant construction, etc. They also provide an analysis of results obtained from previous accidents to design preventive measures.
• Nuclear Process Engineer: Nuclear process engineers are individuals who oversee the outline of design, safe functioning and management of nuclear power plants. They help develop protocols to run checks on the functionality of different devices and instruments that produce energy. A nuclear processing engineer is exclusively held accountable for providing electricity to different parts of the country.

Career opportunities

Nuclear engineers can opt for various fields of work in the companies listed below:

• Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR)
• DHIO Research and Engineering Pvt Ltd
• General Electric
• BWXT
• Canberra
• Power Plants
• Electric Power
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited

Colleges offering courses

• Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
• School of Technology, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar
• School of Engineering and Technology, Mody University of Science and Technology, Sikar
• Jadavpur University, Kolkata
• Jadavpur University, Kolkata
• SASTRA (Deemed to be University), Thanjavur
• GD Goenka University, Gurgaon
• Amity University, Noida