Nuclear Analyst

UK Atomic Energy Authority; South Oxfordshire; On-site; GBP 41,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in fusion energy is seeking a Nuclear Analyst to contribute to the development of fusion technologies. The role involves nuclear modelling, analysis, and supporting experiments to drive the design and operation of fusion power plants. The ideal candidate will have a STEM degree, experience in nuclear analysis, and programming skills in Python, C++, or Fortran. Join a vibrant team committed to innovation and inclusivity.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension scheme

Corporate bonus scheme up to 7%

Flexible working options

Employee Assistance Programme

Generous annual leave allowance

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in interpretation of nuclear analysis in a research or laboratory environment.
• Ability to work as part of a team and communicate effectively.

Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of high-quality nuclear analysis by the ART Group.
• Prepare reports and documentation, and present research findings.

Skills

Nuclear Analysis

Scientific Programming

Communication

Education

Degree in a STEM-related discipline

Tools

Monte Carlo tools

Python

C++

Fortran

Job description

Company Description

By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.

Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs.

UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow's power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovative, Committed, Trusted, and Collaborative.

As an employee of UKAEA you will benefit from:

• Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
• Corporate bonus scheme up to 7% and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
• Flexible working options including family friendly policies and the right to request flexible working from the start of your employment.
• Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders.
• Generous annual leave allowance starting with 25 days, plus 3 days Christmas closure and 2.5 privilege days, in addition to UK bank holidays.
• Wide range of career development opportunities.
• A vibrant culture committed to equality and being fully inclusive.

Job Description

The salary for this role is £40,609 (inclusive of a Specialist Allowance). Onsite working is expected for 3 days a week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working.

This role is based at the following site; Culham, Oxfordshire.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data.

The Role

The Fusion Technology (FT) Division draws on multi-disciplinary expertise to develop fusion-relevant technologies, from concept to demonstration in relevant environments, to enable the delivery of commercial fusion power plants.

As part of the FT Division, the Applied Radiation Technology Group (ART) develops fusion technologies and R&D programmes by leading the application and development of nuclear modelling software, nuclear diagnostics for neutron and gamma detection, analysis of nuclear data and benchmarking codes, and workflows through experiments. The group performs highly detailed, accurate and reliable time-dependent neutronics modelling and simulations for waste management, concept and design development, safety cases, and operations. The group also operates a state-of-the-art Radiological Assay and Detection Laboratory (RADLab), which supports research and waste characterisation across the site and the wider fusion community.

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As a Nuclear Analyst, you will contribute to the successful delivery of services and R&D delivered by the ART Group to model nuclear fusion environments, predict nuclear responses, and support benchmarking experiments (including neutron diagnostics and fluid activation) to drive the design, commissioning, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of fusion machines and experiments and support the realisation of fusion power plants. This role will sit within the Benchmarking team in ART, which has a focus on performing experiments to validate the nuclear models developed and operated by the group, making it a great opportunity for those interested both computation modelling and laboratory work.

Key Accountabilities:

• Support the delivery of high-quality nuclear analysis by the ART Group.
• Provide technical guidance on nuclear analysis for internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to the development of nuclear analysis methods and tools that increase the capability and efficiency of the group.
• Prepare reports and documentation, and present research findings at meetings, conferences and forums.
• Maintain timely and clear communication about progress.
• Deliver medium complexity tasks independently and highly complex tasks under mentorship and coaching, to agreed expectations, such as within time and budget.
• Develop strong relationships within FT, across the UKAEA, and with external stakeholders, including academic and industrial collaborators.
• Contribute to improving best practices and quality standards within the team, division, and organisation.
• Ensure your behaviour promotes the safety, health and welfare of yourself and colleagues.
• Promote the UKAEA’s values, championing a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Work in accordance with the UKAEA policy and undertake any other reasonable tasks or duties requested by Management.

Qualifications

Qualifications

Essential Requirements:

• Degree in a STEM-related discipline, or similar level of experience in a structured research environment.
• Experience in interpretation of nuclear analysis in a research or laboratory environment.
• Experience performing and interpreting nuclear analysis with Monte Carlo tools (e.g. MCNP/OpenMC), and/or activations codes (e.g. such as FISPACT-II).
• Experience in the use of scientific programming such as Python, C++, and Fortran.
• Experience operating and analysing different detector systems, particularly neutron diagnostics.
• Experience of planning experiments.
• Experience in gamma spectrometry measurement and analysis.
• Ability to work as part of a team and communicate effectively, particularly in writing concise and impactful technical reports and scientific papers.
• Appetite to learn, research, investigate, and tackle new challenges.
• Ability to constructively interact with various stakeholders at all levels of the business.
• Ability to use initiative and creativity to suggest solutions to queries in a proactively and apply appropriate attention to detail.

Desirable:

• Previous experience of working in a fusion-related field.
• Experience in using CAD modelling software.
• Experience supervising teams or students.
• Experience working in a collaborative, cross-functional team environment.
• Understanding of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and multi-physics codes.
• Aptitude for presenting information at different levels and /audiences.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/.

We welcome talented people from all backgrounds who want to help us achieve our mission. We encourage applications from under-represented groups, particularly from women in STEM, people from BlackBritishCaribbean and African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi British, and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and neurotypical individuals. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) and Wellbeing and our EDI Networks actively promote Inclusion and takes steps to increase diversity within our organisation. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.

For applicants applying from outside the United Kingdom or those who have spent time outside the UK in the last five years, please visit the following link for information on criminal records checks: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants If your country of residence or previous residence is not listed on the website or if the UK Government does not have information on obtaining a criminal records check from that state, we regret to inform you that we cannot process your application.