How to become a Nuclear Technician 2024

Nuclear Technician Assist nuclear physicists, nuclear engineers, or other scientists in laboratory, power generation, or electricity production activities. May operate, maintain, or provide quality control for nuclear testing and research equipment. May monitor radiation.

Nuclear Technician is Also Know as

In different settings, Nuclear Technician is titled as

Auxiliary Operator
Equipment Operator
Licensed Nuclear Operator
Non-Licensed Nuclear Equipment Operator (NLO)
Non-Licensed Nuclear Plant Operator (NLO)
Nuclear Auxiliary Operator
Nuclear Equipment Operator (NEO)
Nuclear Plant Equipment Operator (NAPEO)
Operations Technician
Systems Operator

Education and Training of Nuclear Technician

Nuclear Technician is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Nuclear Technician

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Nuclear Technician

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Nuclear Technician

Training Required for Nuclear Technician

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Nuclear Technician in different industries are

What Do Nuclear Technician do?

Follow nuclear equipment operational policies and procedures that ensure environmental safety.
Conduct surveillance testing to determine safety of nuclear equipment.
Monitor nuclear reactor equipment performance to identify operational inefficiencies, hazards, or needs for maintenance or repair.
Test plant equipment to ensure it is operating properly.
Apply safety tags to equipment needing maintenance.
Follow policies and procedures for radiation workers to ensure personnel safety.
Modify, devise, or maintain nuclear equipment used in operations.
Monitor instruments, gauges, or recording devices under direction of nuclear experimenters.
Perform testing, maintenance, repair, or upgrading of accelerator systems.
Adjust controls of equipment to control particle beam movement, pulse rates, energy or intensity, or radiation, according to specifications.
Warn maintenance workers of radiation hazards and direct workers to vacate hazardous areas.
Calculate equipment operating factors, such as radiation times, dosages, temperatures, gamma intensities, or pressures, using standard formulas and conversion tables.
Measure the intensity and identify the types of radiation in work areas, equipment, or materials, using radiation detectors or other instruments.
Communicate with accelerator maintenance personnel to ensure readiness of support systems, such as vacuum, water cooling, or radio frequency power sources.
Set control panel switches to route electric power from sources and direct particle beams through injector units.
Identify and implement appropriate decontamination procedures, based on equipment and the size, nature, and type of contamination.
Decontaminate objects by cleaning them using soap or solvents or by abrading using brushes, buffing machines, or sandblasting machines.
Prepare reports to communicate information such as contamination test results, decontamination results, or decontamination procedures.
Collect air, water, gas or solid samples for testing to determine radioactivity levels or to ensure appropriate radioactive containment.
Determine or recommend radioactive decontamination procedures, according to the size and nature of equipment and the degree of contamination.
Set up equipment that automatically detects area radiation deviations and test detection equipment to ensure its accuracy.

Qualities of Good Nuclear Technician

Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Nuclear Technician

Air compressors
Air purifying respirators
Airline respirators
Area gamma monitors
Atmosphere supplying respirators
Condensate demineralizers
Contamination probes
Control rod drives
Cryostats
Digital ratemeters
Digital signal analyzers
Digital spectrum analyzers
Eddy current testing equipment
Emergency diesel generators
Fuel handling systems
Gamma exit/entrance contamination monitors
Gantry cranes
Hot cell remote viewing devices
Leak detection equipment
Level transmitters
Master-slave manipulators
Metal active gas MAG welding equipment
Metal inert gas MIG welding equipment
Multichannel analyzers
New fuel elevators
Non-contact thermometers
Personal computers
Pipe camera inspection systems
Plasma arc cutting torches
Pocket dosimeters
Portable two way radios
Portal monitors
Pressure cleaners
Pressure demand respirators
Protective coveralls
Protective gloves
Protective shoe covers
Radiation survey meters
Scintillation detectors
Seismic monitoring instruments
Self-contained breathing apparatus
Spent fuel handling machines
Ultrasonic flaw detectors
Ultrasonic thickness gauges
Vibration monitors
Video borescopes
Videoscopes

Technology Skills required for Nuclear Technician

Data logging software
Database software
Linux
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft operating system
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Word
Spreadsheet software
Structured query language SQL
Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
VMware
VMWare ESX Server
Word processing software

US Universities

How to become Nuclear Technician in 2024