Prospects for Software Engineers

[alt.dev]

Hi there !

I've been doing some research regarding prospects in the nuke industry recently and came across this forum. I must say, this is hands down the BEST one I've seen. Great job guys !

Now, here's my question:

I'm a software developer with a Bachelors degree in CSE and three years of work experience. A number of factors have led me to consider a career in the nuclear industry, mainly : a childhood fascination with physics and nukes, and secondly, due to the situation with the economy, IT spending in companies is crashing, and the outlook for the next couple of years is not so good. The nuke industry seems to be making a comeback and I'm interested in switching into some kind of position in the nuclear power sector that aligns with my skillset.

I have the option to pursue a 2 year Masters degree in Nuclear Engineering and I'm willing to put the time and money into this, but what I would like to know from you guys is : What kind of roles/positions are available in the industry for a person with my background. I was thinking there HAVE to be people specializing in developing / running reactor control systems or other in-house software.

If I get a Masters degree, what kind of positions, other than software related ones could be available for a person with my career background ?

Any suggestions ?

[JustinHEMI05]

If you could come up with a line of code that would be able to tell that you are planning to continue inserting rods if you select a rod in the next group after inserting all the rods before it, you could probably find a job. 

All kidding aside, you could easily find a job in the nuke industry. Depending on what you want to do, you could go engineering, ops, etc. As far as I know, on the ops side, you would start as an NLO. Others will have to chime in for engineering/IT.

Good luck.

Justin

[RDTroja]

Nuclear plants all have IT departments... they vary in size from about 3 to 30 people doing things from network maintenance to software development, depending on the plant. At Calvert Cliffs, there was (not sure anymore, not there) a staff of over 30 people and we developed our own in-house Document Control/Records Management software connected to a FileNet document Imaging System. When I left there were over 12 million pages stored on the system and the records vault was virtually empty.

On the other hand, at the plant where I am currently employed, there is a bare bones staff that can only keep up with maintaining the network.

I do some software development for a couple of plants as a 'side job.' Mostly it is RP/HP/ALARA oriented small database programs, some are larger projects. Virtually all of the process/control software is developed by the big players in the industry -- Siemens, GE, Westinghouse and the like, not by the utilities or at the plants.

Naturally, I have not been at all of the plants so you may find exceptions, but I am pretty sure if you want to follow the IT route, you won't find much at the plants themselves.

[alt.dev]

Thanks for the detailed replies !

Basically I'm seeing two possible paths that I can follow :

1) Enter the industry in the IT role. Even though this seems like the easier path, I'm kinda keeping it as a second option (I love my dev job, but I just want to do something more "hands on", get my hands dirty [.. with something non-radioactive preferably  ]).

2) Take the Masters in Nuclear Engineering and enter the industry proper. Now I'm a total noob when it comes to the terminology and business of nuclear power. JustinHEMI mentioned that in this case I would probably enter as a NLO. After digging around a bit I figured out that it means Non-Licensed Operator. Could someone please explain briefly what kind of responsibilities / roles a NLO holds ?

The kind of work I prefer to be doing is probably managing / maintaining (as I mentioned before) control systems , something that involves computers , micro controllers , systems integration etc. but I'm flexible.

I'm more than willing to work in remote areas, isolation, non-optimal environmental conditions, as long as the work is engaging / interesting and pays good

Another thing I'm worried about is the fact that I won't hold a Bachelors degree in Nuclear engineering. Will having a background in CS and Masters in NE, put me at a disadvantage compared to my peers ?

Finally, there are a lot of new plants under construction around the world, but what about the nuclear research labs, is there a renewed push into new reactor designs ? Any jobs opening up in R&D ?

[tr]

One thing to clarify is that most plants really have 2 different IT related groups.  One group does the usual corporate IT stuff (taking care of the computer on everyone's desk), while a separate group usually takes care of the actual plant computer systems.  There are usually plant computers which only monitor and display plant status, and other computers which actually control equipment.  There is also usually a controls engineering group that is responsible for designing and updating the actual control equipment.

Regarding new plants, there is probably a lot of control systems type of work being done by the vendors and architect engineer firms, as the new plant designs are entering the detailed design stage.

I'd cruise the various company websites to see what sort of jobs openings there are.  You can always try to interview and see if there is anything that seems like a good fit.  This would also allow you to "try out" the nuclear industry before committing to go for the MSNE.

Based on how you described your interests, I'd really recommend looking at a position in either the plant computer or controls engineering areas (i.e., not in the traditional IT area).

[alt.dev]

Thanks for the info guys.

Appreciate it.

[alt.dev]

Back with more questions 

I've been asking around a bit, and a couple of guys tell me I might have problems with security clearances if I ever wanted to work in the US. I'm from Pakistan actually. Could anyone clear up this issue for me ?

Secondly,
I know most members here are American, but should I be considering applying for graduate studies in the US or should I target European universities ? I'm a bit confused because, I've been looking at the state of legislation regarding nuclear power in the US and it's not very clear which direction they're gonna go ...... Europe seems to be clearly interested in pursuing nuclear power (plus, I won't have to attempt the GREs ).