Nuclear EngineerPhysical Danger

You skipped right to this section, didn’t you? Sure, there is danger in working with nuclear materials, radiation and the scared (if somewhat misguided) public. In fact, Marie Curie, the Polish-French, Nobel Prize-winning scientist made famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity actually died from her exposure to radiation. (Aplastic anemia, a condition where bone marrow can’t create new cells to replenish blood cells was the formal cause of her death.)

Even Madame Curie’s papers, belongings and cookbooks are too “hot” to handle to this day; people need to wear protective clothing in order to look at them.

Did we scare you off? Hope not. Because as Madame Curie (along with her devoted husband, Pierre Curie) was a pioneer in this field, she truly didn’t know of the long-term effects. She essentially gave her life for a burgeoning new science.

So now you may think that nuclear science is the most dangerous job. That actually isn’t true at all, particularly in light of all we’ve learned about it and how to protect ourselves during the past 100 years. In fact, professional fisherman, loggers, airline pilots, ranchers, steel workers, trash collectors, truck drivers and scores more jobs are more dangerous than nuclear scientist.