<p>I want to be a nuclear engineer but i was told that i should major in chemical engineering for my undergrad and nuclear for my grad. Does anyone have input on what i should do i have been debating on going nuclear for under grad and grad or going Chemical under grad nuclear grad any help would be appreciated. thanks</p>
<p>Either way is fine. There are certainly more undergraduate Chemical Engineering programs out there than Nuclear Engineering, however, other majors would do as well if you go for the graduate degree in Nuclear Engineering. These include Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Engineering Physics or Physics. Lots of choices…</p>
<p>Chemical? Any reason why? Other than Nuclear for your BS, Mechanical or Materials makes the most sense (for reactor operations or nuclear materials/fuel). For Nuclear medicine you can go another way (Physics, etc.). </p>
<p>Take a look at the plan of study at Purdue (it’s very similar at most NE programs):</p>
<p><a href=“https://engineering.purdue.edu/NE/Academics/Undergrad/POS.html[/url]”>Academics - Nuclear Engineering - Purdue University;
<p>Notice the number of Nuclear, Mechanical and Materials courses. Your technical electives will determine what field you want to focus on (usually, nuclear medicine vs. reactor operations/materials).</p>
<p>My physics friend does nuclear medicine.
My chemical engineering friend does plant design.
I’m a mechanical and want to work in nuclear.</p>
<p>I’ve worked with a nuclear engineer and he recommended to another intern, who is majoring in NE at VT (new program?), to check the job market. A degree in nuclear could be rather limiting. Also, I am not sure if there are many undergrad programs for it.</p>
<p>I agree with Gator, I would go with Mechanical or Materials. There is a quite a bit of overlap. I have a BS in Nuclear and went on to earn an MS in Mechanical. I had taken enough ME classes undergrad as part of the standard curriculum that I had no problem switching disciplines. I now work as a Mechanical Engineer with some crossover into materials.</p>
<p>What, exactly, do you want to do? I work in nuclear power plant design and 90% of the work is mechanical,electrical, and civil engineering. As VMT pointed out, there is a lot of crossover between Nuclear and Mechanical, but if your interest is truly in some of the specialization that nuclear engineering covers, then you need to take that into consideration.</p>
<p>I am curious about the suggestion for Chemical. That is a real niche subject area within the world of nuclear power. It is usually focused on water treatment and waste reduction processes.</p>