This is the third time that we have put together a similar post regarding the salary of a nuclear engineer. A nuclear engineer salary is something that is debated and compared quite often to other industries particularly as the nuclear industry is one of the better paying industries around.
Credit: EDF
The term engineering is generally a very broad term; a quick google search of "becoming an engineer in the nuclear industry" brings up a very wide range of varying results. Therefore, it is important that we clearly define the term.
For the purpose of what we are trying to do as part of this article we should be clear that we are working on the basis that Engineering encompasses the disciplines associated with the design elements of nuclear projects including;
Mechanical,
Electrical, Control and Instrumentation (EC&I),
Process,
Civil, Structural and Architectural (CS&A) and
Analysis.
The roles and functions that are encompassed within Project Management, Quality, Health, Safety & Environmental (QHSE), Manufacturing, Construction, Site Works and Commissioning are covered elsewhere and have different pay grades to the nuclear engineer salary.
So what is a typical Nuclear Engineer Salary?
We understand this is the main reason you are reading this article is to find out the "nuclear engineer salary". There is nothing wrong with that, of course, the pay is one of the biggest reasons that people go to work every day, not the only reason but certainly the main for a lot of people.
To quote the late, great Jim Rohn "your salary is equal to the value that you bring to the marketplace". This is certainly true when working in the nuclear industry and explains why there is a very good chance that you could get yourself a pay rise if you did chose to sector jump into the nuclear arena and get your own nuclear engineer salary.
Credit: salaryexplorer.com
The above is from an article written by salaryexplorer.com which is a very well written and thorough account on the topic of a nuclear engineer salary. The numbers however do look a little high based on our experience. There are many roles that will demand a salary of six figures in the nuclear industry but to say that it is 75% of all jobs is not what we have seen in our experience. The below from the Telegraph appears to be much more apt.
It is very difficult to give a specific value or percentage increase you would get but as a guide, the Telegraph reports that starting salaries in nuclear engineering begin at around £27,000 per annum, while those earning in the top 10% of the profession (principal engineers) bring home upwards of £110,000 each year. The average salary for all engineers working nuclear in the UK is close to £40,000 per annum (between £30,000 to £65,000).
Design Engineering
The Role
There are various roles available ranging from Principal Engineer to Design Engineer starting with Graduate Engineer. There are roles offered in all of the Mechanical, EC&I, Analysis, Process and CS&A functions. The major need for all of these roles revolves around the production of designs that satisfy a technical specification and any specifically defined user requirements. There is a need to support these design by providing verification and validation of the designs, participating in any radiological and conventional safety reviews and providing the required documentation that enables the project to take the design from paper to realisation and ultimate implementation. It is also important that a nuclear engineer bring drive and innovation to any nuclear project being undertaken.
The Profile
The profile of an engineer in the Nuclear Industry is very much job specific when considering qualifications and experience. We do not aim to go into the details of each specific job role as we believe that you will actually find that the best place to look for job descriptions is on specific job advertisements themselves.
To help you with this we have pre-searched a couple of search terms below to enable you to review and research further information about the specific requirements of anyone role. It is important here that you consider all of the candidate requirements for a number of roles that you are interested in to build a full picture.
Before jumping right in it is worth noting that as a minimum the below 5 requirements will be included within the criteria:
You will need an Engineering qualification such as NHC/HND
You will usually be required to be or be willing to work towards becoming a chartered engineer
If sector jumping you will have worked previously in a design project environment - ideally (but not mandatory) in a regulated industry
You will be proficient in the use of the required software (AutoCAD, ProE, Inventor)
You have or will be able to meet the vetting requirements.
Nuclear Job Search Terms
Mechanical Engineering Jobs in the UK Nuclear Industry
Electrical Engineering Jobs in the UK Nuclear Industry
Software Engineering Jobs in the UK Nuclear Industry
Process Engineering Jobs in the UK Nuclear Industry
CS&A Engineering Jobs in the UK Nuclear Industry
Analyst Jobs in the UK Nuclear Industry
Getting Into Nuclear
The majority of the engineering roles within the UK nuclear industry have historically been kept behind a closed door to workers who are currently working outside of the nuclear sector. However, the increase in demand for roles within the Nuclear New Build (NNB) projects coupled with an ageing, retiring workforce means that the industry is needing to broaden the opportunities to 'non-nuclear engineers. This has lead to the creation of the Nuclear Sector Deal which has brought about the term Sector Jumping and your opportunity to find a nuclear engineer salary in the UK.
If you believe that you have the skills and experience to bag yourself a role it is worth checking out the Nuclear Skills Academy for Nuclear's (NSAN) Nuclear Skills Passport (NS4P). The NS4P is a competency framework that gives you the means to demonstrate that you are SQEP (a Suitably, Qualified and Experienced Person) to work in the nuclear industry without having actually worked in the industry before.
Credit: NSAN
Additionally, check out our Career Hub for all of the information and links needed to help you up-skill wherever you feel that you need to do so.
There are many opportunities out there in the UK Nuclear Industry particularly in the Engineering Function and now is a great time to start to assess and understand where you can fit into the picture.
The Six Steps To Get Into Nuclear
If all the talk regarding the opportunities of work in the nuclear industry or maybe just the hint of a potential pay rise, if you do choose to work as an engineer in the nuclear industry, has left you wanting to find out more, Get Into Nuclear is uniquely positioned to help.
We support employers in the nuclear industry in attracting top talent from outside of the sector. We have created a website that has everything that you need to assist you in this in plain English that is easy to understand. This is manifested in our Career Hub and our Six-Steps to Getting Into Nuclear which is a guided programme that enables you in identifying your perfect nuclear role and allows you to develop a strategy to take to get there.
The link we've provided takes you to our 6-Steps to Get Into Nuclear page which is part of our Career Hub. The information on this page will provide you with everything that you need to create a CV tailored for the nuclear industry and develop a supporting job seeking strategy. We have also - following your feedback - created a supporting online course which is a series of guided lessons and modules to walk you through the six steps. This is by no means mandatory but it has been utilised successfully by many since its creation.
Access to the online course was initially free - but we found that people did not take the necessary steps to work through the exercises and take the necessary action needed to put themselves in a position to join the industry.
Our aim is to help the industry in attracting new talent whilst enabling potential sector jumpers to find a new role. In short our 'why' is that we aim to answer the question "so how do I get into nuclear?" for as many people as possible. We have put a lot of effort into creating the course to enable us to do this. However, people not being invested enough to produce action means a lose-lose scenario for everyone; neither of us achieves our goals.
After some review we put the root cause for this being down to the fact that “people who pay, pay attention” and as the course was free it is not being given the attention that it deserved. We needed to find a way for you to be invested in your development without you having to break the bank.*
The six steps to getting into nuclear is a high-touch service for people who are serious about making a substantial investment in identifying their transferable skills. Whether you are just starting your career or have years of experience we can help you to find a role in nuclear. We offer CV reviews and writing services, information on training courses and we can put you in front of Nuclear Employers. We are here to support you every step of the way.
What we get out of it is that we have a unique resource pool (you) that is only available to nuclear employers on our nuclear jobs board meaning that employers look to recruit and post roles on our network. You get the benefit of exclusive roles that will not be available elsewhere in the marketplace.
All of the above in our view provides you with a means of;
clearly identifying your strengths,
learning more about the nuclear industry and what types of roles would fit your skills and be of interest to you,
learning how you can put yourself in front of nuclear employers
and ultimately you end up with a CV that is perfect for the nuclear industry.
We believe that the above provides you with over £500 of value (a lot more if you consider that a lot of the lessons are applicable to other industries).
However, we have decided to price it at £7 for access*
(this is a small enough amount to not break the bank and gives us the satisfaction that you are getting a good deal. It is also a statement of your commitment to follow through with the training. To add to this will be asking you as part of the course to imagine that you have spent £7,000 as you complete the exercises.)
As an added option we will provide you with a one-time-offer when you sign-up which is for us to review your CV once you have followed the six steps. This is £90 when taken at the end of the course but we are offering it to you now for only £50.
Worst case scenario is that you pay £7 and get £500 of value that is transferrable when you are looking for roles in other industries – we cannot be any fairer than that.
You can check it out and sign up using the link here.