How To Become A Radiation Protection Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a radiation protection technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a radiation protection technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.48 an hour? That's $44,670 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -17% and produce -900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRadiation Protection TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,670

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.98%

Asian 10.41%

Black or African American 9.72%

Hispanic or Latino 17.16%

Unknown 5.71%

White 56.01%

Gender

female 25.54%

male 74.46%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a radiation protection technician

Explore radiation protection technician education requirements

Most common radiation protection technician degrees

Associate

39.7 %

Bachelor's

38.7 %

High School Diploma

10.6 %

Start to develop specific radiation protection technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Cathodic Protection	16.96%
Chemistry	14.04%
Radioactive Materials	13.94%
Respiratory Protection	8.17%
ANSI	6.89%

Complete relevant radiation protection technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New radiation protection technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a radiation protection technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real radiation protection technician resumes.

Research radiation protection technician duties and responsibilities

Utilize sandblaster, mig welding and various hand and power tools
Assist in giving ALARA briefs for routine and high risk activities.
Practice radiation protection techniques to minimize radiation to patient and staff (ALARA).
Survey plant areas, personnel and equipment for radiation and contamination levels during plant outage.

Prepare your radiation protection technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your radiation protection technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a radiation protection technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable radiation protection technician resume templates

Build a professional radiation protection technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your radiation protection technician resume.