AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 17-2161.00
Will AI replace Nuclear Engineers?
Nuclear Engineers: AI can already handle 3 of 20 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 20 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Nuclear Engineers, from most to least exposed. 3 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discuss construction project proposals with interested parties, such as vendors, contractors, or nuclear facility review boards. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Consult with other scientists to determine parameters of experimentation or suitability of analytical models. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Recommend preventive measures to be taken in the handling of nuclear technology, based on data obtained from operations monitoring or from evaluation of test results. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Prepare environmental impact statements, reports, or presentations for regulatory or other agencies. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Perform experiments that will provide information about acceptable methods of nuclear material usage, nuclear fuel reclamation, or waste disposal. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Conduct environmental studies on topics such as nuclear power generation, nuclear waste disposal, or nuclear weapon deployment. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Design or develop nuclear equipment, such as reactor cores, radiation shielding, or associated instrumentation or control mechanisms. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Monitor nuclear facility operations to identify any design, construction, or operation practices that violate safety regulations and laws or could jeopardize safe operations. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Initiate corrective actions or order plant shutdowns in emergency situations. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Examine accidents to obtain data for use in design of preventive measures. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Direct operating or maintenance activities of nuclear power plants to ensure efficiency and conformity to safety standards. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Design or oversee construction or operation of nuclear reactors, power plants, or nuclear fuels reprocessing and reclamation systems. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Direct environmental compliance activities associated with nuclear plant operations or maintenance. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Write operational instructions to be used in nuclear plant operation or nuclear fuel or waste handling and disposal. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Develop or contribute to the development of plans to remediate or restore environments affected by nuclear radiation, such as waste disposal sites. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Conduct tests of nuclear fuel behavior and cycles or performance of nuclear machinery and equipment to optimize performance of existing plants. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Design fuel cycle models or processes to reduce the quantity of radioactive waste generated from nuclear activities. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Design or direct nuclear research projects to develop, test, modify, or discover new uses for theoretical models. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Keep abreast of developments and changes in the nuclear field by reading technical journals or by independent study and research. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Prepare technical reports of findings or recommendations, based on synthesized analyses of test results. | Observed | Standard |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 20 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 19 of 20. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 15,280
- Median annual wage
- $133,970
- Middle half of earners
- $108,690 to $163,630
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- -1.1%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Nuclear Technicians 75% skill overlap, about 9 months to move Exposure23
- Nuclear Power Reactor Operators 73% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure29
- Nuclear Monitoring Technicians 68% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure54
- Electrical Engineers 67% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure54
- Nuclear Medicine Technologists 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure56
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Nuclear Engineers and AI
Will AI replace Nuclear Engineers?
AI already handles 3 of the 20 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 52 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by -1.1% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Nuclear Engineers?
52 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 20 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 19 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Nuclear Engineers tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Discuss construction project proposals with interested parties, such as vendors, contractors, or nuclear facility review boards; Consult with other scientists to determine parameters of experimentation or suitability of analytical models; Recommend preventive measures to be taken in the handling of nuclear technology, based on data obtained from operations monitoring or from evaluation of test results. They are the tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Nuclear Engineers, and what do they earn?
15,280 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $133,970 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of -1.1% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Nuclear Engineers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/nuclear-engineers
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