US dataswitch to UK
Nuclear Power Reactor Operators
operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety, monitoring or operating boilers, turbines, wells or auxiliary power plant equipment and recording operating data. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety is work software can't reach.
What shifts is reviewing and editing standard operating procedures. This page scores what today's tools actually do, not headlines.
Your week, as this page understands it
Operate or control nuclear reactors. Move control rods, start and stop equipment, monitor and adjust controls, and record data in logs. Implement emergency procedures when needed. May respond to abnormalities, determine cause, and recommend corrective action. The job title says “nuclear power reactor operators”. The real job is the part underneath: operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But nuclear power reactor operators is not one task. It is 19 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 0%
- changing shape
- 12%
- staying human
- 88%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 15 out of 100 (9–20 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 19 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for nuclear power reactor operators is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
0 tasksTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Nothing in this job’s scored task list landed in this group. That is the measurement, not an editorial choice, and it is worth knowing either way.
Changing shape
2 tasksTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Recording operating data, such as the results of surveillance tests
The software now makes the first pass at data, but someone has to be answerable for the result, and it cannot be the software. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Record operating data, such as the results of surveillance tests.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 43 out of 100 (36–50 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Logging surveillance results is routine record keeping, but a licensed operator has to attest to it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Reviewing and editing standard operating procedures
The software now makes the first pass at standard operating procedures, but someone has to be answerable for the result, and it cannot be the software. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Review and edit standard operating procedures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (49–63 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Reviewing and editing written procedures is desk work software drafts well, with licensed staff approving the wording.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Staying human
17 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety
This work happens in the physical world: nuclear power reactors, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Operate nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 3 out of 100 (0–7 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Only a federally licensed operator may run a reactor, and they must be at the controls to do it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Responding to system or unit abnormalities
This work happens in the physical world: system, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Respond to system or unit abnormalities, diagnosing the cause, and recommending or taking corrective action.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 6 out of 100 (0–13 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Diagnosis can be supported by software, but a licensed operator must decide and act at the plant.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Monitoring all systems for normal running conditions
This work happens in the physical world: all systems, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Monitor all systems for normal running conditions, performing activities such as checking gauges to assess output or the effects of generator loading on other equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 12 out of 100 (5–19 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Instruments already report the readings, though a licensed operator must be in the control room watching them.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Monitoring or operating boilers, turbines, wells or auxiliary power plant equipment
This work happens in the physical world: boilers, turbines, wells or auxiliary power plant equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Monitor or operate boilers, turbines, wells, or auxiliary power plant equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (1–15 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Running boilers and turbines means being at the plant with the authority to operate them.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Adjusting controls to position rod and to regulate flux level
This work happens in the physical world: controls, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Adjust controls to position rod and to regulate flux level, reactor period, coolant temperature, or rate of power flow, following standard procedures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 6 out of 100 (2–10 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: The calculation can be automated, but moving control rods is a licensed operator’s hands on the panel.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Developing or implementing actions, lockouts, tagouts or clearances to allow equipment to be safely
This work happens in the physical world: actions, lockouts, tagouts or clearances, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Develop or implement actions such as lockouts, tagouts, or clearances to allow equipment to be safely repaired.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 18 out of 100 (11–25 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: The permit paperwork is standard, but hanging tags and locks on plant equipment is physical and legally controlled.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Noting malfunctions of equipment, instruments or controls and reporting these conditions to supervisors
This work happens in the physical world: malfunctions of equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Note malfunctions of equipment, instruments, or controls and report these conditions to supervisors.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 24 out of 100 (17–31 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Noticing and reporting a fault is easy to write up, but it depends on being at the plant.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Implementing operational procedures, such as those controlling start-up or shut-down activities
This work happens in the physical world: operational procedures, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Implement operational procedures, such as those controlling start-up or shut-down activities.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 4 out of 100 (0–8 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Starting up or shutting down a reactor is a licensed operator’s physical act at the controls.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Show the other 9 tasks
Authorizing maintenance activities on units or changes in equipment or system operational status
staying humanThe rules require a named, qualified person to answer for maintenance activities, and that person cannot be a piece of software.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Authorize maintenance activities on units or changes in equipment or system operational status.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 22 out of 100 (15–29 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: The authorisation itself is a legal act reserved to a licensed senior operator, even though the paperwork is routine.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Authorizing actions to correct identified operational inefficiencies or hazards so that operating efficiency is maximized and potential environmental issues
staying humanThe rules require a named, qualified person to answer for actions, and that person cannot be a piece of software.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Authorize actions to correct identified operational inefficiencies or hazards so that operating efficiency is maximized and potential environmental issues are minimized.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 19 out of 100 (12–26 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Software can flag the inefficiency, but only a licensed operator may authorise the correction.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Dispatching orders or instructions to personnel through radiotelephone or intercommunication systems to coordinate auxiliary equipment operation
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: orders, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Dispatch orders or instructions to personnel through radiotelephone or intercommunication systems to coordinate auxiliary equipment operation.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 13 out of 100 (6–20 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Passing instructions by radio is simple, but the authority to give them belongs to a licensed operator on shift.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Directing measurement of the intensity or types of radiation in work areas
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: measurement of the intensity, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Direct measurement of the intensity or types of radiation in work areas, equipment, or materials.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 13 out of 100 (6–20 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Radiation surveys are planned from documents but directed on site under licensed responsibility.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Directing the collection and testing of air
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: the collection, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Direct the collection and testing of air, water, gas, or solid samples to determine radioactivity levels or to ensure appropriate radioactive containment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 13 out of 100 (6–20 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Scheduling sampling is easy to automate, but directing it carries licensed responsibility and happens on site.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Supervising technicians' work activities to ensure that equipment is operated in accordance with policies and procedures that protect workers from radiation and ensure environmental safety
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: technicians' work activities, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Supervise technicians' work activities to ensure that equipment is operated in accordance with policies and procedures that protect workers from radiation and ensure environmental safety.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 7 out of 100 (0–14 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Supervising technicians safely means being present and legally answerable for what they do.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Directing reactor operators in emergency situations
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: reactor operators, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · SupplementalSource: “Direct reactor operators in emergency situations, in accordance with emergency operating procedures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 3 out of 100 (0–7 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: In an emergency a licensed senior operator directs the crew in the room, in real time.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 4/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Participating in nuclear fuel element handling activities
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: nuclear fuel element handling activities, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Participate in nuclear fuel element handling activities, such as preparation, transfer, loading, or unloading.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Handling nuclear fuel is physical work under strict licensing.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Conducting inspections or operations outside of control rooms
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: inspections, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Conduct inspections or operations outside of control rooms as necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Walking the plant to inspect or operate equipment is physical work on site.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 3/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $122,890a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 5,150in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: standard operating procedures in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: reviewing and editing standard operating procedures and recording operating data, such as the results of surveillance tests. What it cannot do is be answerable: nuclear power reactors need a named person the rules will accept, and software cannot be that person. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
Start with what does not change: operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 0% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 12% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 88% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 19 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Reviewing and editing standard operating procedures is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.
This week: one thing
Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to standard operating procedures, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.
- What you end up holding
- a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
- How long it takes
- ten minutes
If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether nuclear power reactors are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.
Over the next 90 days
Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near recording operating data, such as the results of surveillance tests. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.
Over the next 12 months
On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to nuclear power reactor operators (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was nuclear technicians: only about 15% of its durable work is work you already do and it pays 10.3% less. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 15/100 here, with only 0% of the task list in the top band, and “operate nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect…” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Nuclear Technicians
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already direct measurement of the intensity or types of radiation in work areas, equipment…, and their equivalent is to determine intensities and types of radiation in work areas, equipment, or materials, using…. Across both published task lists that is about 15% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 15% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. It is a pay cut, in those words: $110,240 against your $122,890, 10.3% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Gas Plant Operators
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already implement operational procedures, and their equivalent is to start and shut down plant equipment. Across both published task lists that is about 6% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 6% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. It is a pay cut, in those words: $87,820 against your $122,890, 28.5% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Nuclear Engineers
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already operate nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers…, and their equivalent is to design or oversee construction or operation of nuclear reactors, power plants, or nuclear…. Across both published task lists that is about 6% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 6% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 0% of its task weight, across 19 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like operating nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
You are reading the United States figures
The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Energy plant operatives is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Energy plant operatives. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
Free
Why there is no community here
Collab365, who build this site, run paid Spaces for a small number of subjects, and none of them is built for this job. We are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
So the free services listed on this page are the whole answer, and it is the same answer we would give a friend.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for nuclear power reactor operators launches. Nothing else.
That did not look like an email address, so nothing was saved. Have another go below.
We could not save that. The fault is ours, not yours, and your address was not stored. Please try again later.
No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Nuclear Power Reactor Operators?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 19 official task statements scored for Nuclear Power Reactor Operators (United States, SOC 51-8011), 0% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 15 out of 100 (range 9–20, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Nuclear Power Reactor Operators” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Review and edit standard operating procedures” (56/100, partial); “Record operating data, such as the results of surveillance tests” (43/100, partial); “Note malfunctions of equipment, instruments, or controls and report these conditions to supervisors” (24/100, low). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Nuclear Power Reactor Operators” stay human?
- About 88% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Conduct inspections or operations outside of control rooms as necessary” (0/100, minimal); “Participate in nuclear fuel element handling activities, such as preparation, transfer, loading, or unloading” (0/100, minimal); “Operate nuclear power reactors in accordance with policies and procedures to protect workers from radiation and to ensure environmental safety” (3/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Nuclear Power Reactor Operators” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 0% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 88% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Nuclear Power Reactor Operators calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 19 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.