I talked to a guy who was in the program, he said it was incredibly cool, but I'm still not entirely sure what they do. Someone on here probably has an answer. It seemed like they were all working on the reactors, but it appeared there was a pretty good variation between rates.
I'm not a nuke, but a conventional MM working in Reactor Dept aboard USS HARRY S TRUMAN (CVN 75) out of Norfolk. I can only speak of the carrier side of the house. There are three rates for which you can be placed, MM (machinist mate), EM (electricians mate) and ET (electronics technician). MMs work in RM or RP divisions. RM is specifically the reactor room, and RP is propulsion or in other words the engine room. Only nukes to RM and a select few and a mix of nuke MMs and conventional MMs to RP. I stand the same watches, and do the same maintenance as a nuke MM minus the hefty signing bonus, huge reenlistment bonus, etc, etc. I'm a whipping boy I guess you could say. I can't speak on the EM or ET side. EMs are pretty obvious, and ETs deal with the operation of the reactor.
I could go into much more detail, but there are limits to what I can say.
I served on a conventional ship before coming to the Truman. I can tell you that the nuke Navy is a completely different Navy. They pride themselves on superior knowledge and professionalism. The people are great, minus the obvious bad apples. For the most part, nukes don't like being nukes. My two roommates, both MM2s would rather not be in the Navy, I mean, this stuff isn't for everyone. Being a nuke is a tough job, there is no time to slack, and as a junior guy you are thrown into a environment carrying a lot of responsibility. For example, a 21 year old kid from Kansas standing Chief Reactor Watch on board the most powerful ship in the world. It's a huge responsibility, but pretty cool when you put it into perspective.
The initial sign on is 6 years, with a chance to reenlist once you get to your first command. Depending on the rate you get, school may be as short as 1.5 years or as long as 2.5 years. MM's have the shortest school. School is in South Carolina to begin, you may stay there or head up to New York.
As far as working with the reactors statement, yes and no. You maybe end up an MM in RP division, in which case you will do nothing with a reactor. You'll steam the carrier in the engine room and fix and maintain the equipment there.