New York’s nuclear industry has delivered clean, around-the-clock power and family-sustaining jobs for decades, providing about 20% of the state’s electricity.[1] As the state moves forward with plans to expand nuclear generation, building the workforce behind it will need to grow too.
The state is funding the pipeline
New York is already investing directly in that future workforce. Through NextGen Nuclear New York, NYPA has committed $40 million over four years to support nuclear training, education, and apprenticeship programs.[2] The funding can help expand opportunities at technical high schools, community colleges, universities and labor unions, helping align education and training with the jobs new nuclear development will create.
“Opening up more training pathways is a huge pportunity for working people, whether you’re just starting out or looking tobuild a career in a new field,” said Vincent Albanese, Executive Director,NYS Laborers PAC. “As New York’s energy industry changes, we need to make sure workers have the training to grow with it. Nuclear can provide a pipelineof good jobs for the next generation, and investing in the workforce now willmake sure New Yorkers are ready to build it.”
Good jobs now, and more to come
New York’s existing fleet is already a major economic engine. The state’s three nuclear energy sites support about 2,100full-time jobs and roughly 3,000 additional workers during refueling outages.Including suppliers and local economic activity, the plants support an estimated 25,000 jobs across their regions.[3]
Those job opportunities are set to grow. Under the state’s Nuclear Reliability Backbone strategy, New York aims to increase nuclear generating capacity to 8.4 gigawatts. Building on the existing3.4-gigawatt fleet, the state plans to add 5 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity over time, including at least 1 gigawatt of advanced nuclear capacity led by the New York Power Authority, with roughly 4 additional gigawatts to followthrough the state’s public review process.[2]
For workers, that means long-term career opportunities.Existing plants will continue to need skilled workers to continue operating, while new reactors will require thousands of construction and skilled-trades workers to build them and operators and technicians to run them.
Career pathways already exist
For New Yorkers who want to be part of the next generation of nuclear, career pathways already exist at every step:
• Technical & career high schools —Dual-credit and career-and-technical programs are eligible for NextGen NuclearNew York funding, making high school the earliest on-ramp to a nuclear career.
• Suffolk County Community College +Brookhaven National Lab — The Nuclear Technology and Radiochemistry Technical Pathway pairs classroom instruction with hands-on lab training at Brookhaven.Its first cohort finished in 2026 and moved on to nuclear engineering studiesand university programs.
• Excelsior University (Albany) — A 100% nline, ABET-accredited B.S. in Nuclear Engineering Technology, built forworking technicians and Navy-trained veterans who want to move up in theindustry.
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy) —B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. programs in Nuclear Engineering, with a small modular reactor control-room simulator and a linear accelerator facility on campus.
• Constellation Energy — Nuclear operator, technician, and engineering careers, with paid internships and on-the-job,NRC-certified reactor-operator training at the Nine Mile Point and FitzPatrick plants near Oswego.
The foundation is already here
New York does not have to start from scratch.Three upstate nuclear plants, Nine Mile Point, FitzPatrick, and Ginna, are already operating today. Together, they are supported by a workforce with decades of experience operating nuclear facilities safely, securely, and reliably.
That experience is reflected in their performance. Together, the plants provide about 3.4 gigawatts of generating capacity and produce more than 27 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity each year. In 2024, the plants produced 98% of the electricity they were capable of producing over the course of the year, making them the most reliable generators of any kind in the state.[3] That gives New York a strong base to build the next generation of nuclear.
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Endnotes
[1] https://www.eia.gov/states/NY/analysis
[2] https://www.nypa.gov/News/Press-Releases/2026/20260601-nuclear
[3] NYSERDA, “Nuclear,” https://energyplan.ny.gov/Plans/2025-Energy-Plan