I&C Engineer for Nuclear Industry

I am an I&C engineer working at a firm doing nuclear plant design. The job is very fun! I don't have a mechanical background so others will have to speak to that particular transition. I'll take a stab at your other questions though.

1) Assuming you're in the US, NRC regulations are going to be big. For my job in plant design, most applicable now is 10CFR Part 50.
NRC Regulatory Guides have some good stuff, though not all applicable to I&C NUREG 0800 at high level, Chapters 7,8, and 18 most applicable:
There are many IEEE standards which are frequently used as well. The NRC reg guides will reference the most important ones. I don't think you need to know anything verbatim, but familiarity is always good.

2) Certifications might help get you the job, but I cannot think of any that are strictly necessary.
4) No programming language in particular is used in my current role.

5) For design, probably the most helpful thing to know is how a nuclear power plant operates. I&C interfaces with every process system, so it's important to have a good understanding of how it all fits together. Lots of stuff can be found via google. For pressurized water reactors, Westinghouse has a good training manual . I believe an I&C position at a plant would include a rather thorough on-the-job type training program to get someone up to speed, but I'm not entirely sure.

6) The job is very rewarding. The Systems engineers design the process system, create P&IDs etc. I&C makes sure it works as they intend. We ensure that the right parameters are measured, that the right instruments are chosen, that they're located appropriately. We design the controls for each component, calculate the setpoints at which they need to actuate. We design protective features to prevent damage to equipment and other undesirable consequences. We make sure everything is in compliance with regulatory requirements. There's a lot more to it, but that's the gist.

7) It's very possible. From what I can tell, I&C engineers in the nuclear industry seem to be in demand. I get a bunch recruitment emails for plant positions, anyway. Also small modular reactors (SMRs) are a hot topic at the moment, so there are a handful of companies designing them that are likely still hiring as they try to get those off the ground.

Hope this helps!

Thanks BF3 Counter

That is a big help!

I will start reading the information. The job sounds very interesting. That is a relief that they actually would have training, that is very different than where I currently work where the training is actually doing the job.

1) How long have you worked in the field? 

Thanks again for the information!

Well I have been in nuclear power for about 10 years now. But much of that time was as a plant operator, so not much design. I changed jobs and I've been in I&C design for a couple of years now. There are definitely folks out there with more experience than I have, so I'd keep asking around to get a representative picture of the field. Happy to help!

OP,
1) What codes and standards are the most important to know? Get to know your nuclear standards and certs for instrumentations, ASME is a good place to start and pay attention to the other standards referenced in ASME.
2) What certifications do you recommend? (I.E. PE, CAP-Certified Automation Professional any others?)
3) What technologies do you recommend to learn (I.E. SCADA, DCS, PLCs) If you're an I&C, not to be a smart ass, but all of them. For plants, really get to learn DCS and SIS systems.
4) Is there any recommended programming languages you recommend learning( I.E. SQL for database querying, C#/JAVA, Python) I don't know of any specifically recommended for nuclear service but anyone you learn add value to you.
5) What other information do you have that would be necessary to learn to get into that field?
6) What is the actual job like?
7) Is it possible to get a I&C job in the nuclear industry? Yes, nuclear plants, feed stock processing, spent fuel processing, reactor designers and fabricators and all the related engineering ancillary to those.

I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of time preparing for a job you don't have. Instead I would look at nuclear plant engineering job advertisements (preferable with the plant or utility rather than a headhunter) for jobs you might be somewhat qualified for. Then tailor your resume to the job description (emphasize the aspects of your education, experience and accomplishments that most overlap to the job). After awhile I'll bet you start seeing repeats of similar job offered at a different location, you can go back and recycle and older customized resume for that job description.

If the position you end up getting doesn't thrill you, odds are there will be a lot of opportunities to move laterally once you are in-house.