Nuclear science explains what's inside atoms and how that energy can be used for medicine, power, and research. You'll build atomic models, learn about radiation safety, and do hands-on experiments. It's a fascinating peek into how the universe works at its smallest level.
Why it's worth it
Nuclear science is behind the PET scan that finds a tumor, the smoke detector in your hallway, the reactors that power submarines and cities, and the way scientists date ancient bones. This badge lets you see the invisible: watching particle tracks appear in a cloud chamber is something most people never get to do. You'll also learn to think clearly about radiation, telling real risks from scary myths, which is a rare and useful skill.
Start this week
- Look around your home with a parent for things connected to nuclear science, like a smoke detector or a granite countertop, and make a list.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Nuclear Science counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Use the EPA radiation dose calculator with a parent to estimate how much natural and medical radiation you get in a year.
- Build a quick atom model from candy or beads for carbon, using one color each for protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Stay safe
- Handle any radioactive sources, detectors, or lab equipment only with your counselor directing the activity.
- Dry ice can burn skin and alcohol is flammable. Wear gloves and goggles, keep flames away, and build a cloud chamber only with an adult.
Requirements · 8
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
- Requirement 1
Radiation
Tips for this section: Make a list of natural and everyday sources of radiation, and explain ALARA in your own words.
Example for this section: Explain alpha, beta, and gamma radiation with a stop test: paper stops alpha, aluminum stops beta, thick lead or concrete slows gamma. Then explain ALARA as time, distance, and shielding, like an X-ray tech stepping behind a wall.
- Requirement 1a
Explain what radiation is and how ionizing and nonionizing radiation differ
- Requirement 1b
Explain the ALARA principle and how you'd keep your dose ALARA while doing this badge's requirements
- Requirement 1c
Describe the radiation warning (hazard) symbol and where it belongs
- Requirement 1d
Explain how we're exposed every day to ionizing radiation from space and from the earth. List four naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) found in your home or a grocery store and why they're radioactive
- Requirement 1e
Explain how radiation exposure differs from contamination and the hazards radiation poses to people, the environment, and wildlife. Estimate your yearly radiation dose and compare it with a typical nuclear power plant worker's
- Requirement 2
Basic nuclear science
Tips for this section: Build atom models from candy, beads, or clay, using different colors for protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Example for this section: Pick carbon and build models of carbon-12, carbon-13, and carbon-14 from beads or clay, one color each for protons, neutrons, and electrons, and label each with its mass and atomic numbers. Add a drawing of the quarks inside a proton and a neutron, and explain why carbon-14 lets scientists date old wood and bone.
- Requirement 2a
Explain these terms: atom, nucleus, electron, proton, neutron, quark, isotope, radioisotope, radioactivity, stability, ionization, alpha particle, beta particle, gamma ray, and X-ray
- Requirement 2b
Pick an element and build 3-D models of three of its isotopes showing protons, neutrons, and electrons, and write each one's isotope notation, including atomic and mass numbers. Using another model or a diagram, show the quarks that form protons and neutrons
- Requirement 3
Modern particle physics
Tips for this section: Look up a well-known particle accelerator and share what scientists are trying to learn with it.
Example for this section: Learn how an accelerator speeds particles up with electric fields and steers them with magnets. Then pick three, like the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Fermilab, and Jefferson Lab, and describe an experiment at each and a practical use, like making medical isotopes.
- Requirement 3a
Explain how a particle accelerator works
- Requirement 3b
Accelerator activity. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 3b1
Visit an accelerator, research lab, or university and talk with a scientist about how they study the nucleus or nucleons
- Requirement 3b2
List three particle accelerators and describe several of their experiments, including the basic science and practical uses
- Requirement 4
Classic experiments. Choose 2 of 3
Tips for this section: Pick two experiments with your counselor, and only use any materials or equipment under their guidance.
Example for this section: With your counselor, build a cloud chamber in a clear container with isopropyl alcohol and dry ice, with an adult handling the dry ice and any radioactive source, and watch for trails.
- Requirement 4a
Build an electroscope and show how it works. With an adult handling the radioactive material, put a radiation source near the ball and explain what happens
- Requirement 4b
Make a cloud chamber and show how it reveals radiation tracks, explaining what's going on. Adults must handle the radioactive materials and dry ice
- Requirement 4c
Do a half-life experiment with nonradioactive items such as candy or coins, and discuss decay chains
- Requirement 5
Radiation safety. Choose 1 of 3
Tips for this section: Work with your counselor to choose an activity, and ask a science teacher or university lab if they can help.
- Requirement 5a
With an adult handling the source, use a survey meter to show how counts per minute change as a radioactive source moves closer to or farther from the detector. Put three different materials between them and explain the differences. Explain how time, distance, and shielding lower a person's dose
- Requirement 5b
Describe how radon is detected in homes: the steps for long-term and short-term tests, how to read the results, and when to use each. Explain radon's health risks and how to reduce it in buildings
- Requirement 5c
Visit a place that uses X-rays and draw a floor plan of the room showing where the unit, operator, and patient are during use. Explain the safety precautions for the operator and why they matter
- Requirement 6
Nuclear energy. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Draw a simple diagram showing how a power plant turns heat from fission into electricity.
Example for this section: Draw the path from atom to outlet: a neutron splits a uranium atom, the heat boils water, steam spins a turbine, the turbine turns a generator. Label where the control rods and cooling water fit in.
- Requirement 6a
Draw how nuclear fission works. Watch an adult-built mousetrap reactor and use it to show how a chain reaction gets going, how a reactor stops or controls one, and what critical mass means. Afterward, talk with your counselor about how nuclear power plants produce electricity
- Requirement 6b
Visit a nuclear plant or reactor in person or online (with a parent's or guardian's OK) to learn how it works and makes power. Graph what share of US and your state's electricity comes from nuclear and other sources. Afterward, talk with your counselor about how nuclear power plants produce electricity
- Requirement 7
Give an example of each and explain how nuclear science is used and why it matters: nuclear medicine, environmental uses, industrial uses, space exploration, and radiation therapy
Tip: Look for examples in medicine, food safety, or space exploration.
For example: Give one example for each of the five areas: nuclear medicine finding heart disease with a scan, an environmental use like tracing how groundwater moves, an industrial use like irradiating food to kill germs, radioisotope power for space probes too far from the sun for solar panels, and radiation therapy aimed at a tumor.
- Requirement 8
Research one career related to nuclear science: training and education, costs, job outlook, pay, duties, and advancement. With a parent's or guardian's OK you may search online or at a library, interview a pro, or visit a workplace. Discuss your findings with your counselor and what makes the career appealing
Tip: Ask a scientist, engineer, or medical technologist about their work, or research what training they needed.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A university physics department or national laboratory
Many run outreach days or tours where you can see detectors, accelerators, or research reactors up close.
How: Have a leader check the lab's or department's website for public tours or outreach events and ask whether they host Scout groups.
A hospital nuclear medicine or radiation oncology department
You'll see how radiation is used carefully to find and treat disease.
How: A parent or leader can call the hospital's community relations office and ask if a staff member can give a short talk or tour to a small Scout group.
A nuclear power plant visitor or information center
Some plants and utilities have visitor centers with models and staff who explain how the plant works.
How: A leader can check the utility's website or call its community office to ask about visitor programs.
Where it can lead
- Nuclear engineerDesigns and runs reactors, medical equipment, and radiation systems; needs an engineering degree.
- Nuclear medicine technologistGives patients small radioactive tracers and runs the scans that show how organs are working.
- Reactor operatorControls a reactor from the control room; many learn through the Navy's nuclear program.
- Health physicistProtects workers, patients, and the public by measuring and limiting radiation exposure.
- Radiation therapistUses carefully aimed radiation to treat cancer as part of a medical team.
Ask yourself
- What did you believe about radiation before this badge that turned out to be wrong?
- Which experiment made the invisible feel real to you?
- How would you explain nuclear power to someone who's afraid of it?
- What questions about atoms do you still want answered?
- Which use of nuclear science do you think matters most for people, and why?
Good questions to ask a nuclear engineer, medical physicist, or nuclear medicine technologist
- What does a normal workday look like for you?
- How do you keep yourself and others safe around radiation at work?
- What's a common myth about radiation that you wish people would stop believing?
- What classes in high school helped you the most for this work?
- What new nuclear technology are you most excited about?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Connect scouts with a nearby university, hospital, or power plant that offers outreach.
- Be sure any experiments are done under a knowledgeable counselor's direct supervision.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- U.S. Department of Energy (opens in a new tab) — Learning resources on nuclear energy and science.
- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (opens in a new tab) — Info on radiation and safety.
- American Nuclear Society (opens in a new tab) — Education resources and info on nuclear careers.
- EPA Radiation Dose Calculator (opens in a new tab) — Estimate your own yearly radiation dose from natural and everyday sources.
- CERN (opens in a new tab) — The world's largest particle physics lab, with explanations of how its accelerators work.
- DOE Office of Nuclear Energy (opens in a new tab) — How nuclear power works and what's being developed next.
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (opens in a new tab) — A national lab doing research in nuclear science, medicine, and materials.
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.