Maine Maritime Academy to offer nuclear engineering technology major

The Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) is set to become the first maritime academy in the United States to offer a major in nuclear engineering technology. The college characterized it as "an important step in addressing workforce needs and advancing clean energy solutions" in a LinkedIn post announcing the major.

The program, which was approved by the MMA Board of Trustees at its May meeting, is designed to prepare graduates for supporting "innovation in maritime nuclear applications, small modular reactors, and the broader nuclear industry-while maintaining the highest standards of safety."

Nuclear engineering technology programs: The nuclear engineering technology major will become available in the fall 2027 semester. Students entering MMA this fall will be able to transition into the major during their second year. The college officially reintroduced its nuclear engineering minor in March 2025 after three decades without such a program. In May 2025, the first cohort of those students graduated.

Last month, MMA became one of ten colleges and universities to receive funding from the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy to enhance training in nuclear safety and workforce development. The school's $1 million grant is for the establishment of a Center for Education and Training of the Nuclear Merchant Mariner, which will develop the nuclear engineering technology program. The new center will also offer a reactor operator course approved by the International Maritime Organization and demonstrate the feasibility of a floating nuclear power plant.

MMA president Craig Johnson said that the college "is positioning itself at the forefront of the quickly evolving field of nuclear energy, which has been increasingly embraced as a safe, low-carbon alternative to other energy sources."

Vanguard of innovation: Paul Wlodkowski, the Mossman Chair of Nuclear Engineering Technology at MMA, said that the "vote of the MMA Board of Trustees to establish a Nuclear Engineering Technology program is historic. It reaffirms the academy's leadership in workforce development for this critical energy sector-leadership that began in 1960-and positions MMA in the vanguard of innovation that will transform the maritime industry."

In an August 2025 article published in Nuclear News, Wlodkowski wrote that MMA "is distinct among U.S. academies because of its history teaching nuclear engineering." He also stressed that although "there are education and workforce development programs for maritime workers and for nuclear workers, MMA has the only program currently in place that covers both domains. The academy's role is critical for the industry to move forward."

The SMR component of MMR's nuclear engineering technology program is timely. The approval of the major at MMA comes right after the early May announcement by the Department of Transportation and the Maritime Administration of the launch of an initiative to develop SMRs for commercial shipping. And that announcement followed the U.S. Coast Guard's establishment of the Maritime Nuclear Policy Division in December 2025.

About MMA: MMA, which was founded in 1941, is a public, coeducational college with a campus in the coastal town of Castine, Maine. It is one of only six maritime academies in the United State-and one of 79 in the world.

There are about 950 students on the Castine campus enrolled in associate's, bachelor's, and master's degree programs that focus on engineering, management, science, and transportation subjects. MMA students can also obtain international sea-time experience aboard the training ship State of Maine and the schooner Bowdoin, as well as cadet shipping experience aboard commercial vessels.

The Atlantic Council recently named MMA a leading institution in the development of nuclear engineering technology curricula.