Codes & Methods Engineer

Newcleo

3d

About The Position

The Codes and Methods Engineer will contribute to R&D initiatives for next-generation nuclear reactors, with a focus on advanced neutron transport calculations for newcleo’s Lead-Cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs). The role involves developing deterministic calculation schemes to support reactor design and US licensing, benchmarking and optimizing those schemes for speed and accuracy, contributing to code development, and deploying tools across the team through training.

The engineer will work closely with newcleo’s European teams and US national laboratories to ensure access to state-of-the-art, qualified codes for US operations. A central responsibility is contributing to Verification and Validation (V&V) for neutron transport codes, a prerequisite for US licensing. This includes analyzing experimental reactor physics benchmarks and applying the results to newcleo’s reactor design. Findings may be presented to regulatory safety authorities and the broader scientific community.

The position also supports scientific IT network setup, software installation, testing, documentation, code tracking, knowledge sharing, research publication, and representation of the company at industry conferences.

Requirements

• Experience with deterministic neutron transport calculations.
• Programming experience with Python.
• Experience with reactor physics and advanced mathematical modeling in an R&D context.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s or PhD degree in nuclear engineering, physics, or a related discipline; nuclear engineering is preferred.
• Knowledge of the ARC code system.
• Experience with software verification and validation (V&V).
• French and/or Italian language skills.

Responsibilities

• Benchmark scientific computing tools used in US operations against high-fidelity calculations and tools currently used at newcleo.
• Evaluate and optimize calculation schemes for speed and accuracy, and adapt them to LFR applications.
• Identify modeling assumptions, approximations, and LFR-specific physics to resolve discrepancies.
• Contribute to code development so codes reproduce behavior unique to LFRs.
• Partner with US National Laboratories to benchmark and enhance neutron transport code suites.
• Execute V&V workflows for scientific computing software under US regulatory frameworks.
• Model experimental benchmarks to evaluate best estimates and quantify nuclear data uncertainties.
• Analyze discrepancies between calculations and experimental results, including modeling assumptions, experimental methods, and underlying physics.
• Apply validation results to newcleo’s reactors to support licensing and safety demonstrations.
• Author core technical sections of regulatory safety submissions.
• Support scientific IT network setup, software installation, testing, and documentation in office locations.
• Use GitLab facilities at newcleo and the NEA DataBank (OECD) to track computer-code and calculation-scheme development.
• Disseminate knowledge of key scientific computing tools.
• Publish research in scientific journals and represent the company at industry conferences.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time