I agree that switching from nuclear scientist to something else might be hard but with programming languages after a certain amount of years the gamble is gone.

The core concepts of every language are the same. If you acquired a certain amount of experience, switching is just looking for best practices in your new language. Of course it will take some time to ramp up but within a month you are somewhat productive within 3 months no one will see the difference.

Its all about problem solving.