AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Nuclear Technicians?

Task-level automation exposure for Nuclear Technicians: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

32% weighted task index

18 of 18 tasks scored

Median Salary

$110,240 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

6,470 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+1.1% employment change

900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 14 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$91,980 – $135,550

Highest medians

Florida $135,550

New York $129,780

Pennsylvania $124,070

Texas $124,060

Massachusetts $113,390

Lowest medians

Tennessee $91,980

Virginia $98,930

California $99,270

Missouri $104,580

Washington $108,200

State figures come from the 19-4051 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 32%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 27%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 5%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 4/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

18 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 7%

2 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 39%

6 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 54%

10 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#22308 · Core · 45% automatable

Follow nuclear equipment operational policies and procedures that ensure environmental safety.

visual inspection — AI reviews logs; human observes operations on site

Monitor operations to ensure compliance with safety or security policies or regulations.

#22309 · Core · 22% automatable

Conduct surveillance testing to determine safety of nuclear equipment.

visual inspection — Hazard identification on site requires physical presence

Inspect work sites to identify potential environmental or safety hazards.

#22310 · Core · 45% automatable

Monitor nuclear reactor equipment performance to identify operational inefficiencies, hazards, or needs for maintenance or repair.

decision support — Conformance checking aided by AI, but on-site verification is human

Monitor operational procedures in technical environments to ensure conformance to standards.

#22311 · Core · 27% automatable

Test plant equipment to ensure it is operating properly.

physical manipulation — Physical system testing with hands-on instrumentation

Test mechanical systems to ensure proper functioning.

#22312 · Core · 10% automatable

Apply safety tags to equipment needing maintenance.

physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of machinery

Maintain work equipment or machinery.

#22313 · Core · 45% automatable

Follow policies and procedures for radiation workers to ensure personnel safety.

decision support — Conformance checking aided by AI, but on-site verification is human

Monitor operational procedures in technical environments to ensure conformance to standards.

#22314 · Core · 18% automatable

Modify, devise, or maintain nuclear equipment used in operations.

physical manipulation — Hands-on lab/technical equipment upkeep

Maintain laboratory or technical equipment.

#22315 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Monitor instruments, gauges, or recording devices under direction of nuclear experimenters.

decision support — Conformance checking aided by AI, but on-site verification is human

Monitor operational procedures in technical environments to ensure conformance to standards.

#22316 · Supplemental · 20% automatable

Perform testing, maintenance, repair, or upgrading of accelerator systems.

visual inspection — Hands-on verification of equipment functioning

Inspect equipment to ensure proper functioning.

#22318 · Supplemental · 60% automatable

Warn maintenance workers of radiation hazards and direct workers to vacate hazardous areas.

text generation — Safety messaging can be drafted; delivery is human

Communicate safety or hazard information to others.

#22319 · Supplemental · 22% automatable

Calculate equipment operating factors, such as radiation times, dosages, temperatures, gamma intensities, or pressures, using standard formulas and conversion tables.

physical manipulation — Radiation survey requires physical instrument use

Measure radiation levels.

#22320 · Supplemental · 22% automatable

Measure the intensity and identify the types of radiation in work areas, equipment, or materials, using radiation detectors or other instruments.

physical manipulation — Radiation survey requires physical instrument use

Measure radiation levels.

#22321 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Communicate with accelerator maintenance personnel to ensure readiness of support systems, such as vacuum, water cooling, or radio frequency power sources.

interpersonal — Coordination needs live negotiation and context

Communicate with other workers to coordinate activities.

#22323 · Supplemental · 70% automatable

Identify and implement appropriate decontamination procedures, based on equipment and the size, nature, and type of contamination.

text generation — AI proposes sustainable practices from knowledge base

Identify sustainable business practices.

#22324 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Decontaminate objects by cleaning them using soap or solvents or by abrading using brushes, buffing machines, or sandblasting machines.

physical manipulation — Physical cleaning of varied objects

Clean objects.

#22326 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Collect air, water, gas or solid samples for testing to determine radioactivity levels or to ensure appropriate radioactive containment.

situated mobility — Environmental sampling needs field presence and hands

Collect environmental data or samples.

#22327 · Core · 45% automatable

Determine or recommend radioactive decontamination procedures, according to the size and nature of equipment and the degree of contamination.

decision support — Emergency advice needs situated judgment and authority

Advise others on management of emergencies or hazardous situations or materials.

#22328 · Core · 8% automatable

Set up equipment that automatically detects area radiation deviations and test detection equipment to ensure its accuracy.

physical manipulation — Physical lab equipment setup

Set up laboratory or field equipment.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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