Nuclear Primary Systems & T-H Engineer

Ocean Atomics•Bethesda, MD

About The Position

Ocean Atomics (OA) is an American company designing, licensing, and assembling a standardized nuclear electric power plant and the surrounding support systems for maritime applications. We will install these plants on any vessel built to our nuclear-ready standards, and will provide end-to-end sustainment in our planned nuclear lifecycle dockyard. We will help develop the licensed operators to unlock this new capability for your energy intensive application at sea. To move fast and to lead the creation of this new market, we are leveraging the compact, proven systems enabled by water-cooled reactors. Our mission is to scale nuclear energy and power generations. Our vision is a maritime commons thriving with abundant, economical, modern, and safe nuclear-powered activity — built, serviced, and staffed by re-industrialized American shipyards and people. As Nuclear Primary Systems & T-H Engineer, you define the arrangement of the primary system and build the thermal-hydraulic models that prove it works in all design basis conditions. Your analysis is the throughline between arrangement decisions, safety margins, and the licensing case that lets a reactor operate at sea. This is a role we're hiring at multiple levels (L1 through L4). The work is shared across levels; scope and accountability scale with experience.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Nuclear or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
Experience building and running system thermal-hydraulic models of nuclear plants, with working knowledge of one or more reactor systems codes (e.g. RELAP5-3D, TRACE)
Strong understanding of primary system behavior: natural circulation, two-phase flow, and the tradeoffs between active and passive cooling
Working knowledge of decay heat removal design and the design basis events that size it
Ability to work on a close, rapidly iterative design team and translate analysis into arrangement decisions

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with multiple system and subchannel/CFD tools (e.g. RELAP5-3D, TRACE, GOTHIC, COBRA, STAR-CCM+)
Familiarity with coupling system models to neutronics
Experience supporting safety analysis and licensing basis development (DBAs, LOCA/non-LOCA, station blackout)
Strong technical writing skills, particularly for regulator-facing documentation

Responsibilities

Define and maintain the arrangement of the primary system and its interfaces with supporting systems
Build, run, and maintain system thermal-hydraulic models spanning steady-state, transient, and accident design basis scenarios
Analyze decay heat removal architectures and demonstrate adequate cooling for design basis events, accounting for the maritime environment
Couple system models with neutronics and structural inputs to support multiphysics and transient studies
Document analysis results and V&V methodology in support of the licensing process
Provide primary system and accident-response information to our safety analysis, simulator, and operations teams
Lead trade studies that balance arrangement, component sizing, and safety margins across the primary system
Own the licensing basis documentation and justify methodology
Mentor newer engineers and review their thermal-hydraulic analyses
Drive cross-team coupling decisions with our neutronics and structural teams on multiphysics studies