The Department of Energy (DoE) has estimated that approximately 100,000 people are employed in the nation’s current nuclear reactor fleet. That number is expected to rise to 375,000 by 2050 with the deployment and commercialization of advanced reactors.
$100 million was allocated in the DoE’s fiscal year 2024 (FY24) spending bill to launch the Nuclear Reactor Safety Training and Workforce Development Program. That included targeted funding of university-led partnerships with industry, national laboratories, technical colleges, community colleges, and universities, with a special emphasis on academic institutions within 50 miles of an active nuclear power plant.
This month, it was announced that a $1.4 million DoE grant will be used to support nuclear reactor safety training and workforce development in Nebraska through a collaboration among the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Engineering, Nebraska Public Power District, Idaho National Laboratory, Southeast Community College, and the Asian Community and Cultural Center. The partnership also includes industry partners such as Orano and Kairos Power.
It is one of 10 university-led projects that are aimed at expanding nuclear safety training and workforce development.
“It’s very timely, as the United States is placing renewed emphasis on nuclear energy,” Bai Cui, professor of mechanical and materials engineering, told the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Nebraska Today. “With the rapid growth of data centers and the increasing electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence, there is a growing need for reliable, large-scale, carbon-free energy sources. Nuclear energy is carbon-free and represents one of the most energy-dense sources available today.”
Going Nuclear in the Cornhusker State
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Engineering is set to see a growing nuclear energy curriculum. It currently offers just one course related to the study, “Materials for Nuclear Energy Systems.”
The new grant will fund the addition of three courses to its curriculum, allowing students to learn theoretical knowledge of nuclear reactors and safety.
The grant will further support nuclear reactor safety training and a summer youth camp at Southeast Community College. There will be an opportunity for 10 graduate students to conduct doctoral-level research internships at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls.
“More nuclear energy means more nuclear energy jobs,” added Michelle Scott, acting deputy assistant secretary for strategic crosscuts. “These awards help ensure that the next generation of nuclear energy workers receives robust and rigorous training that promotes the highest standards of safety.”
The 10-University-Led Projects
It was in April that the DoE’s Office of Nuclear Energy awarded more than $49.7 million to 10 university-led projects to accelerate the country’s “nuclear energy renaissance,” as the sector is expected to see significant job growth over the next 25 years.
“More nuclear energy means more nuclear energy jobs,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Crosscuts, Michelle Scott. “Today’s awards help ensure that the next generation of nuclear energy workers receive robust and rigorous training that promotes the highest standards of safety.”
Two schools were provided awards for demonstration and implementation, including North Carolina State University to support the Consortium for Reactor Safety Training (CR&ST), which received $18.3 million to develop strategies to involve communities in the conversation around nuclear energy and address key concerns; and The Great Lakes Partnership to Enhance the Nuclear Workforces. Led by the University of Toledo, GLP received $19.2 million to enhance the existing safety training pipelines for the light-water reactor workforce, and to attract talent to the nuclear sector. It will also work to modernize curricula for advanced reactor concepts, and it will establish industry-recognized nuclear reactor safety certifications.
This spring, the DoE provides awards for the training needs and curriculum development to eight other schools, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Other schools included:
- Pennsylvania State University, which received $2 million to establish an educational certificate program and corresponding certification to address a critical gap in the nuclear industry workforce identified by its industrial partners.
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville received $2 million to focus on curriculum development and instruction to support industry-recognized training and certification. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will develop a unique nuclear cybersecurity education capability to ensure a secure fleet moving into the future.
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign received $1.5 million to develop a unique nuclear cybersecurity education capability to ensure a secure fleet moving into the future.
- Purdue University will develop a novel academic curriculum on Nuclear Quality Assurance, System Integrity Management and Reactor Safety Analysis for students and professionals, supported by a $1.6 million award.
- Washington State University is set to develop a Reactor Ready Training Program education initiative aimed at addressing workforce gaps within the nuclear energy sector. The program, which is supported by a $1.4 million award from the DoE, will develop a curriculum that prepares students for nuclear power plant operations, safety, and other industry needs through partnerships with Washington State University, Columbia Basin College, and other key industry players.
- The RENEW partnership program led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute received $1.1 million, which will be utilized to enhance workforce training and safety education, develop and deliver innovative educational programs, and promote public awareness of the nuclear industry.
- Maine Maritime Academy will establish a Center for Education and Training of the Nuclear Merchant Mariner. It will receive $1 million to be used in the development of a Nuclear Engineering Technology program, and for designing a reactor operator course approved by the International Maritime Organization, as well as demonstrating the feasibility of a floating nuclear power plant.
The DoE confirmed that a second round of funding is anticipated to be announced later in 2026.
New Class of Computational Science Graduate Fellows Selected
In addition to the support of the nuclear energy curriculum efforts, the DoE announced this week that 29 new Ph.D. students will apply high-performance computing to accelerate discoveries in AI, quantum science and engineering, physics, and advanced materials. The candidates, who are now working toward achieving doctorates in the various fields, have been selected for the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) program.
Established in 1991 and funded by the DoE’s Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration, it trains top leaders in computational science.
“The 2026-2027 incoming fellows will attend 18 U.S. universities as they learn to apply high-performance computing (HPC) to research in disciplines including applied mathematics, machine learning, computer science, quantum science and engineering, electrical and mechanical engineering, physics, chemistry and materials science,” the DoE explained.
The agency added that more than 500 program alumni now work in fields that enlist HPC to maintain the country’s advantage in energy science and support other urgent scientific and technological challenges.
“Over the last 35 years, the Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowship has played an outsized role in ensuring American leadership in supercomputing and in science more broadly. CSGF alumni contribute to the three fastest scientific supercomputers in the world, all run by the U.S. Department of Energy, and to the science and engineering applications that run on them,” said Hal Finkel, the Associate Director of DOE’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program. “Alumni also play key roles in the department’s Genesis Mission in artificial intelligence and in research that will lead to a revolution in practical quantum computing. The DOE Office of Science is proud to help support this fantastically successful program.”
