Nuclear Fuels Performance Engineer

TerraPower•Bellevue, WA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

TerraPower is a nuclear technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At its core, the company is working to raise living standards globally through a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy along with innovations in medical isotopes to improve human health. In 2006, TerraPower originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications – all for significant human health benefits. TerraPower is seeking to hire highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape and bringing forward the critical production of medical isotopes. TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Requirements

Advanced degree in Nuclear, Mechanical, or Materials Engineering or equivalent and 4+ years of relevant experience preferred
Fast reactor physics and design intuition highly desired
Experience in understanding and executing nuclear design and analysis methodologies; ideally with a focus on fast-neutron reactors
Excellent knowledge of the methods of reactor physics analysis, finite element models, constitutive material models
Experience in performing design activities to applicable requirements such as NQA-1, ASME B&PV, AWS, 10 CFR 50, Appendix B, or equivalent
Experience using ABAQUS, ANSYS, COMSOL, MOOSE, or an equivalent FEA code
Proven ability to integrate and automate simulation tools
Strong programming skills in any language required. Preferred programming language experience with Python and Fortran
Demonstrable capabilities with fundamental software development tools (e.g. IDEs, version control, profilers, debuggers, documentation builders, packaging tools)
Experience interacting on nuclear methodology with the NRC under an ASME NQA-1 compliant QA environment preferred
Good working knowledge of general numerical methods and applied mathematics (e.g., PDEs, numerical stability, statistics, numerical analysis, dynamics)
Strong formal technical documentation skills required
Ability to consistently deliver to an aggressive schedule
Self-motivated: able to seek out tasks and produce value aligned with team goals without waiting for next assignment
Passion for and dedication to software best practices
Willingness to openly give and accept professional criticism through code reviews and other venues
Strong verbal communication skills desired
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.

Responsibilities

Perform thermo-mechanical analysis of fuel rods and other sodium fast reactor core components for: Core Design, Code Benchmarking and Validation, and Irradiation Testing (Design of Experiments and Post-Irradiation Examination analysis)
Interface with cross-functional groups to inform and resolve component and system design decisions
Document results of thermo-mechanical analyses in the form of engineering reports, engineering calculations, test plans, etc.
Design and execute sensitivity studies to understand the effects and validity of various modeling assumptions, including meshing, physics coupling, material models, and design tolerances
Support software and document reviews in areas of fuel performance modeling, fuel performance, or other areas of subject expertise
Build and apply methods to assess the propagation of uncertainty and their effect on safety margins, especially relative to irradiation test design
Enhance engineering team's ability to build models and make meaningful conclusions from simulation output through input tools, visualization, reports, etc.
Prepare test plans and documentation to support irradiation and performance testing of nuclear fuels.
Create formal documentation of nuclear fuels methods software requirements, design, implementation, and testing in support of licensing TerraPower reactors.
Update, improve, and/or create software to satisfy all licensing requirements during the Verification and Validation (V&V) process