Summer 2027 Software Engineering Intern

The Nuclear Company•Washington, DC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Nuclear Company is a rapidly growing AI tech startup focused on the nuclear and energy sectors, aiming to revolutionize the construction of next-generation nuclear reactors through a scalable, design-once, build-many approach. The company emphasizes an AI-first culture, expecting all employees to utilize AI, technology, and the Nuclear Operating System (NOS) to enhance their work. The ideal candidate is purpose-driven, comfortable with ambiguity, and excited by innovation. The team values intellectual curiosity, high agency, candid feedback, continuous learning, and exceptional standards, guided by core values of Trust, Responsibility, Unity, Scrappiness, and Tenacity. Trust is paramount, underpinning the safety culture with intellectual honesty, accountability, and open communication. The company is committed to urgent execution, humility, resilience, and an unwavering dedication to its mission. This role involves contributing to the software that powers the resurgence of nuclear power in the United States. NOS manages the regulatory, supply chain, cost, schedule, and field operations for real reactor construction, playing a critical role in national security, energy independence, and climate change mitigation. Interns will work on NOS, contributing to AI-powered features, including LLM and agent-backed functionalities, retrieval, and tool-calling within the engineering squads (product, platform, or data). They will collaborate with full-time engineers and nuclear experts, ship features to production, and witness their work being utilized in plant construction. This is a 12-week paid internship from May to August 2027, based in Washington DC, requiring on-site presence five days a week. Housing and relocation assistance are provided for interns outside the DC metro area.

Requirements

Currently enrolled in a BS program for Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related technical field.
Availability for a full six-month term and commitment to returning to school afterward.
Proficiency in at least one modern programming language, such as Python, TypeScript, Java, Go, Rust, or C++.
Demonstrated experience in shipping working software through course projects, personal projects, or prior internships/co-ops.
Must possess U.S. Person status (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) due to access to information and technology subject to U.S. export controls.
Willingness and ability to work on-site in Washington DC, five days a week, for the entire six-month term.

Nice To Haves

Experience building AI-powered features, including familiarity with LLM APIs (OpenAI or Anthropic), retrieval-augmented generation, or agent and tool-calling.
Coursework or project experience with Palantir Foundry, AWS, or another enterprise cloud platform.
Familiarity with algorithms, data structures, cloud infrastructure, and modern front-end frameworks.
Interest in energy, national security, industrial software, or regulated industries.
Familiarity with nuclear engineering concepts.

Responsibilities

Build new features and full modules within NOS, covering areas such as regulatory automation, cost and schedule management, supply chain operations, and the commercial portal.
Develop AI-powered software, including LLM- and agent-backed features, retrieval-augmented generation, and tool-calling against internal systems.
Create data integrations across platforms like Palantir Foundry and AWS GovCloud.
Convert prototypes developed during build-a-thons into production-grade features and develop field deployment tooling for field teams.
Build automated testing and compliance infrastructure to ensure NOS remains audit-ready, and triage issues to identify root causes of failures.