I don't think the nuclear industry has caught up with IM Chat language/shorthand. There are also a lot of prescriptive linguists in this field that expect to see proper grammar when you write. Everything you study will be in proper English, with capitalizations and periods, no run-ons, etc. Like it or not, the way you write matters and will in a lot of cases be the first impression you make.
You mentioned you had 62 hours or so at a college. Does it include algebra, trig, calculus, chemistry and physics? If so, send TVA a copy of your transcript. You have to want it bad enough. You could go to your Navy recruiter and ask to test for the Nuke program. They have a test on site you could take. If you score high enough they'll want to send you to MEPS, where you'll take the ASVAB. Maybe it's different now, but that's how it was when I went in. You'll know if you have enough lead in your pencil after that test. If you don't score high enough, look at what you did poorly on and concentrate on improving those areas.