Taylor Bland wasn’t expecting much from the University of South Carolina career fair she attended years ago.
Duke Energy’s booth was the last one she visited. “They were literally looking for an electrical systems engineer,” she said. “That’s exactly what my degree is in. It was just a lucky happenstance.”
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She went to the career fair in October 2015, had a job offer by November and started in February of 2016.
In college, she’d done mechanical, civil and electrical engineering internships. “What got me hooked on nuclear power was a Women in Nuclear conference I attended as a sponsored student in 2013,” she said. “Everyone was so energized. It showed me how special the industry is.”
Bland began her career in 2016 as an electrical and instrumentation and controls (I&C) systems engineer. She then became a control room supervisor and station technical advisor at Robinson Nuclear Plant before joining Harris (Nuclear Plant).
In her current role, she’s responsible for the I&C and electrical shops. “I didn’t expect maintenance to be my next opportunity after operations,” she said, “but it’s been very gratifying. A lot of the changes my team initiates, I can see almost immediately.”
She always wanted to earn her senior reactor operator’s license. “I came in as an electrical and I&C systems engineer,” she said. “And I never fully understood how all the systems work together in a plant. Getting my license was that last piece I needed to fully understand plant operations and how all the systems rely on each other. It seemed like the golden key to unlocking how everything works.”
After a yearlong class “where they put you through the wringer,” she earned her senior reactor operator license in 2022.

Duke Energy has been a good place to work for several reasons. One, she said, is “the platform I have to do community outreach.” She volunteers as a counselor for the Nuclear Science Merit Badge, which she calls “a really cool opportunity to talk to Scouts about the nuclear industry and the career paths that they can take.”
Duke Energy has given her every opportunity she’s asked for. “At Robinson, when I wanted to start the nuclear science badge with Scouts, the answer was yes,” she said.
“When I wanted to do newsletters to better connect various organizations, they said, ‘Go for it.’ When I wanted to get my master's in leadership and management, I was encouraged to pursue it.” (She completed her master’s degree in 2024.)
Nuclear is an inclusive group. “No matter your background – from chemistry or engineering to security and accounting – you can literally do anything,” she said. “It's incredible how flexible it is.”