Principal Engineer, Nuclear Analysis

Description

The company is a nuclear technology firm in Bellevue, Washington, developing more affordable, secure and low-emission nuclear energy and medical isotopes. It was founded in 2006 by Bill Gates and a group of collaborators who saw energy access as central to health and economic wellbeing, and it has concluded that private industry should build new energy sources.

The company is hiring a Principal Nuclear Analysis Engineer, the company, LLC.

Responsibilities

• Carry out core design and analysis for advanced reactors, covering fuel management, power distribution, reactivity coefficients, control rod worth, shutdown margin, sensitivity and uncertainty, while meeting functional and quality requirements.
• Create and analyze new systems to solve hard technical problems.
• Design and run sensitivity studies that test how modeling choices affect results and whether they hold, such as meshing, physics coupling, transport options, cross section preparation, fission product treatment and spatial kinetics. Build improved methods where needed.
• Write and maintain records of analysis results and nuclear design decisions.
• Expect the role to change over time. Be willing and able to take on new duties and build specialized skills.

Requirements

• A B.S. or higher in nuclear engineering or a related field from an accredited university, plus 7+ years of hands-on nuclear engineering work. Higher education counts toward the experience requirement.
• Basic understanding of reactor design so you can support the engineering team and review code against the systems it models.
• Hands-on experience with core design and analysis, including fuel management optimization, reactivity coefficients, shielding and activation, control rod worth and uncertainty analysis.
• Strong computational skills. You treat computers as a powerful tool, not a chore.
• Strong MCNP experience is required. Experience with other nuclear codes, such as DIF3D, MC2, PARTISN, RELAP, SCALE, PARCS, APA, CASMO/SIMULATE and DRAGON, is preferred.
• Solid grounding in nuclear or general numerical methods, such as PDEs, dynamics, deterministic and stochastic particle transport, isotopic depletion, perturbation theory, nuclear data and kinetics.
• Transient analysis, thermal hydraulics or fuel performance experience is desirable.
• Fast reactor experience, or experience with Core Operating Limits Reports or Technical Specifications, is desirable.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.
• Ability to work within published regulatory guidelines for nuclear reactor design, with professionalism.
• Professional-quality software development for nuclear applications is preferred. Strong programming in any language is a plus.
• Experience in NQA-1 environments is desirable.
• Help maintain software by implementing clearly defined enhancement requests and bug fixes with the team.
• High trust and integrity, open communication, respect for others and a commitment to teamwork.
• The role is subject to qualification requirements under ANSI/ANS 3.1. You must meet the minimum education and experience criteria for the role, including relevant nuclear industry experience where required. Credentials will be verified during hiring.
• Job functions include sitting for long periods, bending or stooping, grasping, fine hand control, lifting up to 25 pounds with minimal physical demands, prolonged repetitive work, visual and audio focused work, stairs, keyboard use, and standard or seated work over 8 hours a day. Accommodations are available case by case after an individual assessment, including under any applicable safety standards.
• Travel of 0 to 10% is required.
• Export controls apply. The company's technology is controlled by U.S. Government agencies, so foreign nationals (other than asylees, refugees or lawful permanent residents) must be evaluated under export control rules. You will be asked to state your U.S. citizenship or status during the application. Approval times vary, and the company may not consider a foreign national from a country if timely government approval is impracticable.

Conditions

Pay within the posted band depends on market data and the candidate's qualifications and experience. The band applies to Washington State.

Full-time position.

Benefits

• Competitive pay, with eligibility for discretionary short-term incentive payments.
• Medical, vision, dental, life and disability insurance, and gender affirmation benefits.
• Parental leave and a 401k plan.
• 21 days of annually accrued PTO and 10 paid holidays.
• Relocation assistance.
• Professional and educational development opportunities.