From Business Week 

By RICHARD RICHTMYER 

TROY, N.Y.

Jackie Young was always good at math and science, but when she started college she never figured she'd end up pursuing a career in nuclear energy.

Then professors at the University of Tennessee's nuclear engineering department briefed her and other undeclared freshmen about what they call a "nuclear renaissance" as the nation prepares to build dozens of new plants in coming years to meet burgeoning energy needs and wean the country off oil.

"They told us how it was so big in the '70s and is just now picking back up, and I was very interested," said Young, who's starting her junior year. "There are going to be so many career opportunities."

Young is not alone. Nuclear engineering programs at universities nationwide are brimming with students eager to break into what they see as a growth industry.

This rebirth of learning comes after a decades-long slump that prompted many schools to scale back nuclear engineering programs and some to close altogether, a trend that has some experts worrying whether enough new workers can be trained in time to support the potential growth.

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