According to a well-known theorem of Brieskorn and Slodowy, the intersection of the nilpotent cone of a simple Lie algebra with a transverse slice to the subregular nilpotent orbit is a simple surface singularity. At the opposite extremity of the nilpotent cone, the closure of the minimal nilpotent orbit is also an isolated symplectic singularity, called a minimal singularity. For classical Lie algebras, Kraft and Procesi showed that these two types of singularities suffice to describe all generic singularities of nilpotent orbit closures: specifically, any such singularity is either a simple surface singularity, a minimal singularity, or a union of two simple surface singularities of type $A_{2k-1}$. In the present paper, we complete the picture by determining the generic singularities of all nilpotent orbit closures in exceptional Lie algebras (up to normalization in a few cases). We summarize the results in some graphs at the end of the paper. In most cases, we also obtain simple surface singularities or minimal singularities, though often with more complicated branching than occurs in the classical types. There are, however, six singularities which do not occur in the classical types. Three of these are unibranch non-normal singularities: an $SL_2(mathbb C)$-variety whose normalization is ${mathbb A}^2$, an $Sp_4(mathbb C)$-variety whose normalization is ${mathbb A}^4$, and a two-dimensional variety whose normalization is the simple surface singularity $A_3$. In addition, there are three 4-dimensional isolated singularities each appearing once. We also study an intrinsic symmetry action on the singularities, in analogy with Slodowys work for the regular nilpotent orbit.
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