MSCA PF 2026 - Decay heat calculations applied to nuclear waste long-term storage

IMT Atlantique; France; Sur place; EUR 20 000 - 40 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A prominent research institution in France seeks candidates for an MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship aimed at enhancing research in nuclear safety and decay heat characterization. Applicants should have a doctoral degree and demonstrate strong research background. The fellowship offers competitive living and mobility allowances, and the opportunity for interdisciplinary research. Ideal for those aiming to expand their academic and transferable skills with international projects.

Prestations

Living allowance of €7404/month

Mobility allowance of €710/month

Family allowance of €660/month (if applicable)

Qualifications

• Possess a PhD and a maximum of 8 years full-time research experience.
• Comply with the mobility rule by not having resided in France for more than 12 months in the last 36.
• Proven track record in research with a strong CV.

Responsabilités

• Characterize decay heat of spent fuel for long-term storage.
• Apply simulation codes for decay heat calculations.
• Interact with international research community for developmental projects.

Connaissances

Good writing and oral skills

Knowledge of Monte Carlo methods

Research in nuclear physics

Formation

Doctoral degree

Outils

Serpent

OpenMC

Description du poste

Organisation/Company IMT Atlantique Research Field Physics Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Application Deadline 15 Mar 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37 Offer Starting Date 1 May 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship: Apply with IMT Atlantique and join us!

Thinking about your next career step and willing to boost your career?Looking to experience intersectoral, interdisciplinary and international research?Wishing to carry out your research in a placeaddressing industrial, environmental, societal and digital transitions as a priority challenge?

Then apply for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) PostdoctoralFellowship with IMT Atlantique as your host institution!

The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) provide funding topromising postdoctoral researchers with a view to develop their academic and transferable skills and enhance their career prospects by moving and working abroad.

By applying with IMT Atlantique you give yourself a chance to join atechnological university ranked among the top 500 universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University's 2026 ranking (top 301-400 for Computer Science, top 201-250 for Engineering, top 301-400 for Physical sciences, and the 124th in the 2026 THE Interdisciplinary Science ranking, and top 51-100 for Data Science and Artificial Intelligencein the 2025 Shangaï ranking. IMT Atlantique is also awarded with the “Bienvenueen France” label, a recognition delivered by Campus France for our capacity to welcome and host international researchersin the best working conditions.

Topic open:

The ability to reliably predict spent nuclear fuel composition in terms of radionuclide inventory, decay heat and radiation source term is relevant for both operational and long-term safety assessment in geological disposal. It also has an important influence on the cost of disposal. Questions are regularly raised about their safe storage (intermediate and long-term disposal), handling, transport, or reprocessing. Countries having selected long-term solutions such as deep geological repositories need to optimize the cost of such facilities with their safety aspect. In a recent Nuclear Energy Agency Joint Workshop, it was recognized that decay heat suffers from a lack of realistic uncertainties and open questions related to conservatism, biases and required margins remain [1]. One of challenges is to then better estimate the decay heat produced in spent fuel but also to calculate the associated uncertainties for storage facilities.

The Subatech Laboratory developed over the past ten years some expertise in the simulation of nuclear reactor cores using Monte-Carlo approaches with a special interest in decay heat calculations. The Cocodrilo code coupled to the fuel depletion code SERPENT2 is also developed at Subatech to propagate the uncertainties associated with nuclear data in depletion calculations and estimate the impact on decay heat calculations.

The main objective of this research project is to characterize the decay heat and associated uncertainties of spent fuel at high burnup of a long-term storage. The first step of this project will be to validate the use of the SERPENT2 and COCODRILO codes to estimate the decay heat production and associated uncertainties in PWR Spent Fuel. Some comparisons will also be performed using the OpenMC depletion code, an open-source code recently developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The developed tools will be then applied to the decay heat characterization of spent fuel at high burnup of a long-term storage.

[1] Brandauer M, Smadja L, Blommaert W, et al. Multifactor Optimization of Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste. Proceedings of the NEA Joint Workshop, 10-14 February 2020, OECD Conference Centre, Paris.

Keywords: nuclear waste, reactor physics, decay heat, Pressurized water reactors, nuclear safety, Monte Carlo methods, nuclear data, uncertainty propagation

• Use of depletion codes such as Serpent, OpenMC or similar ones

Profile:

• Good writing and oral skills

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Research Field Physics

Additional Information

Conditions of the European Fellowship

Duration: 12 to 24 months

Funding for the Postdoctoral Fellow’s salary:

• Living allowance of € 7404* per month (gross amount, including social contributions and income tax)

+ Mobility allowance of € 710 per month (gross amount, including social contributions, but exempt from income tax)

+ If applicable, family allowance of € 660 per month (gross amount, including social contributions and income tax)

*Taking into account the country coefficient for France: 116,6 %

Funding for research, training and networking (e.g. conferences, courses, travel, lab material…): € 1 000 per month

Training: Training portfolio on transferable skills, including a training module on innovative entrepreneurship

Secondment: An interdisciplinary and/or intersectoral mobility (3 months up to 1/3 of the fellowship’s duration) is encouraged when relevant

Additional benefits:

The Postdoctoral Fellow will receive institutional support and guidance on language courses, accommodation, banking, daycare, schooling & family related issues, entry conditions/visas, health insurance, medical care, taxation/salaries, unemployment, work permit, etc. Accommodation in Brest, Nantes and Rennes can also be facilitated upon arrival, by the International Houses in these cities.

Eligibility criteria

You can apply if:

-You are an Experienced Researcher, i.e. in possession of a doctoral degree at the time of the call deadline and have got a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research, from the date of the award of your PhD degree.

-You comply with the mobility rule, i.e. you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline (9 September 2026). All nationalities are welcome!

- You want to carry out innovative research: only the best proposals will be selected by the European Commission. All domains of research are eligible!

- You already have great achievements in research: The CV is an important criterion in the MSCA application.

Selection process

How to apply for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship with IMT Atlantique:

Step 1: Find a supervisor at IMT Atlantique (application before 15 March 2026)

• Pre-determined topics: If you apply to one or two research subject(s) provided by supervisors (please see table2 below), please send us: 1) your CV and 2) a personal statement (maximum of 3 pages, free writing), which should include a personal introduction, qualifications and achievements, career development objectives, and general motivation.
• OR Open topics: If you want to propose a research topic that is not on the list, please send us: 1) your CV; 2) a personal statement (see above); 3) a two-page work plan proposal.

If your application is selected by a supervisor at IMT Atlantique (Feedback: End of March 2026), then, the next step would be to apply jointly for the MSCA PF call2026, which will be launched by the European Commission in April 2026, with the deadline on 9 September 2026.

Step 2: Prepare the application for the MSCA PF

April 2026

• You will receive detailed information on MSCAPF from the European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique to start your proposal preparation
• You elaborate the research approach jointly with your supervisor(s) and the European Project Manager

May 2026

• You will receive a dedicated training session “Preparing for a Horizon Europe MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship” + advice on institutional aspects and transversalissues (open science, gender, ethics and research data management…) + advice on how to write your proposal
• One joint meeting (candidate for fellowship + supervisor(s) + European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique) for the proposal revision

July or August 2026

• One joint meeting (candidate for fellowship + supervisor(s) + European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique) for the proposal revision

September 2026

• One joint meeting (candidate for fellowship + supervisor(s) + European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique) for the proposal proofreading
• Administrative support for your MSCA PF application
• We submit your application for you on the EU Portal (deadline: 9 September 2026).