Fuel Manufacturing Lead Engineer

TerraPower LLC.•Bellevue, WA

11d•$173,579 - $231,439•Onsite

About The Position

TerraPower is seeking a Fuel Manufacturing Lead Engineer to join the Natrium Fuel Manufacturing team. The Fuel Manufacturing Lead Engineer will report to the Director of Fuel Manufacturing to provide broad technical leadership for all the technical elements of fabrication of fuel and non-fuel core components, including but not limited to enrichment, metallization of HALEU feedstock, fabrication, and transport. The Fuel Manufacturing Lead Engineer will interface extensively with leadership, internal teams, and fabrication partners to ensure technical integrity, integration and collaboration.

Requirements

15+ years of experience with B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related field.
Strong preference for nuclear materials, metallurgy, or nuclear fuel cycle engineering.
Relevant M.S. and Doctorate degrees may be credited for up to three or five years of experience respectively.
Demonstrated technical expertise in nuclear fuel design and/or fuel manufacturing, strongly preferred in metallic fuel for fast reactors or other advanced reactor fuels.
Experience working under a nuclear QA program (e.g., ASME NQA‑1, 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, or equivalent), including audits, nonconformance disposition, and corrective actions.
Experience managing or technically directing vendors or contractors for nuclear-grade component fabrication, including supplier qualification, source inspection, and nonconformance disposition.
Proven ability to lead through influence in a matrixed organization, building alignment among diverse stakeholders.
Experience mentoring and developing technical teams.
Ability to handle projects that include many competing objectives and design constraints, with ability to resolve conflicts between objectives.
Excellent writing and communication skills.
Strong analytical/problem solving skills, creative thinker.
Ability to set direction to solve challenging problems.
Ability to work on multiple simultaneous tasks that require a multi-disciplinary approach.
Attention to detail and aspiration for technical excellence.
The successful candidate will possess a high degree of trust and integrity, communicate openly, and display respect and a desire to foster teamwork.
This position is subject to qualification requirements in accordance with ANSI/ANS 3.1.
Candidates must meet the minimum education and experience criteria applicable to the role, including relevant nuclear industry experience where required.
Verification of data will be part of the hiring process.

Nice To Haves

Experience with fuel fabrication facility licensing (10 CFR 70 or equivalent) desired.

Responsibilities

Provide technical direction and guidance to technical teams working on the fuel fabrication chain, acting as a matrix technical leader across Fuel Manufacturing.
Lead technical development and scale-up of fuel and non-fuel manufacturing processes from laboratory and pilot scale to qualified production, including process definition, qualification, and continuous improvement.
Provide technical direction to supplier projects, working with project managers and contract administrators to ensure delivery of data and other technical deliverables to meet TerraPower requirements, as well as coordination and performance of technical reviews of deliverables.
Establish and/or maintain requirements and specifications related to nuclear fuel and non-fuel core components fabrication and transportation, owning the technical baseline and configuration for fuel manufacturing.
Interface with reactor design, neutronics, thermal hydraulics, and safety analysis teams to ensure fuel and non-fuel assembly properties are adequately reflected in fuel fabrication efforts.
Ensure Fuel Manufacturing activities comply with TerraPower’s nuclear quality assurance program and applicable codes, standards, and licensing basis requirements, championing strong nuclear safety culture.
Mentor engineers to establish key competencies within the team and to support team development, staffing plans, and succession planning to enable program scale-up and long-term operational continuity.
Represent Fuel Manufacturing team in other areas such as decision meetings, design reviews, change management, and issue resolution.
Support Fuel Manufacturing team in NRC and/or DOE interactions related to fuel fabrication development, operations, supplier qualification activities, licensing, inspections, reportable events, and other topics.
Support program planning by providing technical input to schedules, cost estimates, risk management, and technology readiness assessments for Fuel Manufacturing.
Support risk identification and mitigation for technical topics within Fuel Manufacturing.
Maintain continuous learning and application of nuclear industry best practices to maintain the highest quality of engineering and proactively identify process change/enhancement opportunities.
Represent TerraPower in technical events related to fuel cycle and/or fuel manufacturing.