Fall 2026 AI Software Engineering Intern New Washington, DC

Fall 2026 AI Software Engineering Intern

Washington, DC

The Nuclear Company
is the fastest growing AI tech-startup in the nuclear and energy space, pioneering a fleet-scale approach to building the next generation of nuclear reactors. Through our design-once, build-many model, we're accelerating the deployment of safe, reliable, and affordable nuclear energy.

We operate with an AI-first mindset.Every employee is expected to leverage AI, technology, and the Nuclear Operating System (NOS) as integral components of their role to improve the quality, speed, and impact of their work. We expect every team member to continuously identify opportunities to automate workflows, enhance decision-making, improve processes, and contribute to the ongoing evolution of NOS as a strategic operating capability that enables The Nuclear Company to scale with excellence.

We hire people who are driven by purpose, thrive in ambiguity, and are energized by building what has never been built before.Our team combines intellectual curiosity with high agency, embraces candid feedback and continuous learning, and holds themselves and others to exceptional standards. Our values—
Trust, Responsibility, Unity, Scrappiness, and Tenacity
—guide how we hire, collaborate, and make decisions every day. They are not words on a wall; they are the standard by which we operate. Trust is the foundation of our safety culture, fostering intellectual honesty, accountability, and open communication, while our values challenge every team member to execute with urgency, humility, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to our mission.

About the role

The United States is building nuclear power again, and The Nuclear Company is writing the software that makes it possible. NOS, the Nuclear Operating System, runs the regulatory, supply chain, cost, schedule, and field work behind real reactor construction. The work matters for national security, energy independence, andthe climate.

You will build software that people use to build power plants. As a AI Software Engineering Intern, you take real scope on NOS across one of our engineering squads (product, platform, or data), and increasingly that means AI-powered software: LLM- and agent-backed features, retrieval, and tool-calling in the tools our teams use. You work next to full-time engineers and nuclear experts, ship real features to production, and see your work put to use by the teams building plants.

This is a six-month co-op available in theFall 2026(August to December) cycle, aligned to the academic calendar. Base location is Washington DC, on-site five days a week, with full housing and relocation for co-ops outside the DC metro area.

Responsibilities

• Build new features and full modules within NOS: regulatory automation, cost and schedule, supply chain, and the commercial portal.
• Build AI-powered software: LLM- and agent-backed features, retrieval-augmented generation, and tool-calling against internal systems, a growing part of the platform.
• Develop data integrations across Palantir Foundry, AWS Gov Cloud,and more.
• Convert build-a-thon prototypes into production-grade features and build field deployment tooling for the teams working in the field.
• Build the automated testing and compliance infrastructure that keeps NOS audit-ready;triage issues and root-cause failures

Required Experience

• Currently enrolled in a BS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related technical field. Available for a full six-month term and returning to school afterward.
• Strong programming fundamentals in at least one modern language (Python, Type Script, Java, Go, Rust, or C++).
• A track recordof shipping working software (course projects, personal projects, or prior internships or co-ops).
• This position requires access to information and technology subject to U.S. export controls (including DOE 10 CFR Part 810 and NRC requirements). U.S. Person status (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) is required, and TNC does not provide visa sponsorship for these roles.
• Willing and able to work on-site in Washington DC, five days a week, for the full six-month term.

Preferred…