A ONE Institute
Oct 16, 2024
Nuclear Engineers
Today, we are featuring the fourth installment of promising future careers, focusing on Nuclear Engineers.
It’s been a while since we’ve met under the theme of “promising future careers.” Today marks the fourth part of this series. One of the most famous figures in America, Elon Musk, made a statement on what was formerly Twitter, now X. He expressed concern that by 2024, power shortages would occur, noting that the world is unprepared for the impending era of electricity scarcity.
We will explore the background of Elon Musk’s claims and examine the current situation. This story begins with the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Interest and advancements in renewable energy had been ongoing globally, but this event significantly accelerated progress. In the U.S., focus on renewable energy intensified during the Obama administration, accompanied by the introduction of new policies. As a result, solar energy rapidly expanded, leading to a reduction in reliance on thermal and nuclear energy.
According to data from 2023, thermal power has been declining since 2010, and nuclear energy has followed a similar trend, while renewable energy (wind and hydropower) has been on the rise. However, thermal power has also increased in tandem. Although renewable energy is growing, its limitations—particularly in wind and hydropower—require natural gas to supplement electricity generation, leading to a rise in both renewable energy and natural gas use.
Data reveals that nuclear energy has remained relatively stable while thermal power has decreased. The first unexpected challenge arises from the faster-than-anticipated mass production and spread of electric vehicles, which has significantly increased electricity demand. The second challenge is the rapid advancement of AI, which has necessitated the creation of massive data centers. These centers, with their colossal data processing needs, consume an extraordinary amount of electricity. The third challenge is the increase in U.S.-based electric battery and solar panel factories, supported by government subsidies, further driving up electricity consumption.
As a result, the demand for electricity has exploded. Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that in 2022, around 460 terawatt-hours of electricity were consumed. Projections for future electricity demand offer three scenarios. By 2026, even the conservative estimate indicates a sharp rise, while the more aggressive projections show a doubling of 2022 levels. In North America alone, the electricity demand has surged.
The chart on U.S. data centers illustrates a massive increase in electricity demand by 2028. The left axis measures gigawatts, where 1 gigawatt represents the output of a large nuclear power plant. In essence, despite the relatively small number of data centers, they will soon consume electricity equivalent to that produced by 10 nuclear power plants.
Given this situation, articles have emerged advocating the construction of additional nuclear power plants to meet the rising energy needs, especially due to AI and data centers. There is growing consensus that, in order to stay ahead in AI technology, countries must meet the immense energy demands necessary to maintain a competitive edge. At present, nuclear energy seems the most suitable option for meeting all electricity demands, given the current technological capabilities.
Additionally, with the Fukushima nuclear disaster now over a decade behind us, many people have begun to forget its impact. As a result, there is increasing support for nuclear power plants, with the priority now placed on stable energy supply.
In December 2023, President Biden announced plans to generate over three times the current nuclear energy output.
As of March 2024, there are 440 nuclear power plants in operation worldwide, producing around 10% of the world’s energy. Moreover, 60 additional plants are currently under construction.
Nuclear energy production, which briefly declined after the Fukushima disaster, is now on the rise again. Due to the three challenges mentioned earlier, electricity demand is skyrocketing. The chart shows which countries are leading in electricity production, with the U.S. and China at the top.
Building nuclear power plants is a national challenge and a complex task. Therefore, I’ll briefly outline the medium- to long-term plans extending to 2050.
The chart shows each country’s dependency on nuclear energy, with France relying on nuclear energy for 70% of its electricity, South Korea also heavily dependent, and the U.S. relying on nuclear energy for about 20%.
The graph in the upper right illustrates the growth in nuclear energy production, which is projected to double by 2050. Given this, the fourth career in our series is nuclear-related specialists. While it may seem that nuclear engineers would no longer be needed if power were stably supplied, current technology suggests that additional nuclear power plants will be necessary. Thus, the demand for nuclear engineers will grow.
Nuclear energy is produced by converting the heat from nuclear fission in a reactor into electricity. This process requires highly specialized knowledge. The role of a nuclear engineer can be summarized as follows:
Monitoring and controlling nuclear reactors
Solving technical issues related to energy release
Designing nuclear reactors
Looking at salary data, the total median salary across all fields is $48,060, but for engineers, the median salary is $102,660, and for nuclear engineers, it’s $135,460. While the table shows that a bachelor’s degree is the typical entry-level requirement, in practice, I believe a master’s degree or higher is needed for real-world work.
Given this, many graduate schools offer majors related to nuclear engineering. Schools known for Nuclear Engineering include:
University of Michigan
MIT
UC Berkeley
Texas A&M
For students interested in nuclear engineering, majoring in Chemistry, Physics, or Chemical Engineering as an undergraduate would be a good foundation.
Although there is much debate surrounding nuclear power plants, understanding the electricity shortage makes it clear that nuclear engineers will be a highly promising career in the long term.
This concludes our fourth post in the series on promising future careers. For more detailed inquiries, please contact us at A-One Institute, and we’ll be happy to assist. Thank you.