KNOXVILLE, TENN. – Several executives with Department of Energy prime contractors said Wednesday morning that workforce gaps will need to be filled if they plan to meet the growing demand for nuclear energy and services.
Panelists from across the DOE nuclear complex told attendees at the Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association’s (ETEBA) Business Opportunities and Technical Conference here Wednesday their companies have had workforce concerns, particularly on the construction side.
“I think we as a country are grossly under-served by the number of trades and crafts workers that we have,” said David (DJ) Johnson, Honeywell International’s vice president and general manager of federal solutions. “I think we need more opportunities to really develop more humans that do trade work and craft work.”
Efforts to introduce trade work to high school and college students in order to fill the workforce gaps, the large contractor executives said. In Wyoming, Bechtel National is working with a community college to help attract students as it starts work on a small modular reactor project, said Rick Holmes, a principal vice president with Bechtel.
Holmes said Bechtel is working with Bellevue, Wash.-based nuclear technology company TerraPower to build its Natrium reactor project in Kemmerer, Wyo.
“For every five practical professionals that retire today, only two [new workers] come back in and the math just doesn’t work,” said John Eschenberg, Amentum senior vice president of operations. “We’re going to need people. What we’re going to need tomorrow is the next generation of our workforce.”
Recruiting young talent into the nuclear industry has been an increasing concern for the sector in recent years as many seasoned hands with decades of experience are retiring.
According to the 2025 U.S. Energy and Employment report, the nuclear workforce trends to be older than the collective energy workforce as 59% of the workforce is between the ages of 30 and 54, which is 7% higher than the energy workforce average (52%) and 5% higher than the national workforce average (54%).
Though the nuclear workforce saw a slight increase in employment from people ranging from ages 18 to 29 years old (24%) compared to last year’s report (23%), the industry is still behind the collective energy workforce average, which is 29%.
Partnerships with subcontractors and small businesses could also help fill those gaps for large companies, several panelists added. Engineering and support services firms are valued in partnerships that can help address specialized client issues, said J.D. Dowell, senior vice president of Fluor’s environmental and nuclear business line.
Also participating in the panel discussion was Lauren Bruner, Huntington Ingalls Industries vice president of nuclear and environmental global security group.