What’s essential to rapidly grow the nuclear workforce?

August 11, 2025, 7:00AMNuclear NewsNicole Hughes

Nicole Hughes

For 25 years, I’ve worked across technical industries on three continents, from defense and aviation to energy and nuclear. The core of my work has always been the same: building teams to meet complex missions. But I’ve never seen anything like the challenge and opportunity we now face in nuclear.

Quadrupling U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050 is the mission. But we can’t get there by technology alone—the future will be built by people. And if we don’t think carefully about who we’re bringing in, and how, the mission will fail.

I’ve worked with global leadership and first-time apprentices. I’ve led recruitment where talent was scarce and urgency high. The biggest barrier I’ve seen is a lack of imagination in how we design the path.

What does building the workforce really mean? It means offering multiple entry points that reflect real people’s lives. Though degrees remain valuable in certain fields, we need systems that value skills, credentials, and lived experience equally. It means welcoming early-career talent and individuals transitioning from other sectors—people with transferable skills, fresh ideas, and the drive to grow.

It means making space for mid-career professionals—people like me, changing countries and industries while raising a family—to step in without sacrificing ambition or flexibility.

It means keeping retiring experts involved to mentor, teach, and pass on the institutional knowledge that can’t be Googled.

We’re not just recruiting—we’re translating. Over the years, I’ve partnered with utilities, developers, and start-ups across the U.S. and globally. One thing is clear: we need to be better storytellers. Stuffy job descriptions don’t excite young people today, who care deeply about purpose and impact. We must meet today’s talent with a message that feels personal and a pathway that feels possible.

Retention is about purpose and belonging. People aren’t leaving because of pay; they’re leaving because they don’t feel seen or valued. Retention comes from culture and leadership that recognizes different life stages and motivations.

Mentorship, flexibility, legacy: People stay when they feel they belong.

For our part, it takes trust, access, and adaptability.

We need to trust that people from other sectors can thrive in nuclear. That means expanding access to underrepresented communities and creating adaptable careers with room to grow, pivot, and align values with work.

We talk a lot about innovation in nuclear. But the real innovation is how we build the people strategy behind it. Let’s stop asking people to fit the mold and start building a mold that fits the people we need.


Nicole Hughes (n.hughes@thomas-thor.com) is senior director of workforce solutions in Thomas Thor’s North American Nuclear division.


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