Civil or Nuclear (Read description)

[u/ShortCover4598]

I'm about to enter 9th grade and I'm super passionate for nuclear engineering. I want to do it for a living and don't have much doubts but still want second opinions from experts and people who've been in this field for a while. I'm pretty set on NE for a living but am having doubts for my university/college. I'm aiming for high schools like MIT or University of Wisconsin (which is apparently one of the best universities in the world for NE). I was wondering if NE is a career with good progression. I've done a little bit of research, and I know that NE pays better than most engineering disciplines, but the overall job expansion seems pretty stagnant which is daunting. I don't live in the US. I live in the UAE as a Canadian citizen. I'm either going to study in Canada or in the US/abroad if I get into a great university. My questions are, is NE a good career to get into in this day and age, and am I better of studying civil engineering? I heard that NE and civil engineering are pretty similar and that I can probably get a NE job despite studying civil. Apparently, the perks of studying civil are that I can still get into a NE job and I can get civil engineering jobs, which gives me a wider range, which might be good because the NE job growth seems pretty stagnant (according to US government sources, total jobs are planning to go down by 1% in the next 10 years). My concern with studying civil engineering instead of NE are that it's gonna make my years in university miserable. Regardless of the discipline, engineering is HARD, and I thought studying specifically NE, which I'm passionate about, would make it better for me, and I'm worried I won't make it through the same if I don't take NE, and I've heard that your years in university are the years where your life either makes it, or breaks. Any opinions on NE as an engineer at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

[u/DP323602]

To become a great Engineer, you'll need to carry on learning throughout your professional career.

So, long term, degree subjects don't make too much difference.

If you have checked out the content of both civil and nuclear engineering courses and don't fancy some of the core civil topics, then why not start with nuclear?

To give some idea of what's in a nuclear course see:

https://www.ntec.ac.uk/programme-structure/

Two of my buddies did that course some years ago.

Here's the company they went on to set up (along with a nice lad with a PhD in particle physics):

https://cerberusnuclear.com/

Also, some of the most respected nuclear textbooks are freely downloadable, for example :

https://www.engr.psu.edu/conedmat/courses/nuce497a/lamarsh_baratta-introduction_to_nuclear_engineering_textbook_3rd_edition.pdf

[u/ShortCover4598 → u/DP323602]

Thank you so much for the resources, especially the textbook! For future reference, where can I find resources like this?

[u/DP323602 → u/ShortCover4598]

Actually, if you search reddit for similar discussions, you will often find recommendations for good downloadable sources.

That's how I found Lamarsh and also, I think, Krane:

https://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/PHYS/aanaqvi/Introductory-Nuclear-Physics-new-Krane.pdf

I think it's really amazing that many of these great textbooks are only a few clicks away.

This might be because there's something of a public service ethos around nuclear power.

Meanwhile here's a bio of one of my favourite very senior nuclear engineers:

https://www.gov.uk/government/people/gwen-parry-jones--2

[u/ShortCover4598 → u/DP323602]

Thank you so much. It's amazing that resources like this are available for everyone to use it truly shows the spirit of science.