In-Core Fuel & Materials Modeling Engineer

Kindredventures; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Paid time off

Gym membership

Job summary

Aalo Atomics is seeking an engineer to model in-core performance and lifetime of fuel and core components in extreme environments. This role combines modeling with engineering judgment and works with mechanical design, neutronics, and thermal hydraulics.

Early-career candidates will work closely with the technical lead to develop methods and judgment; more experienced engineers will own larger analysis areas and guide cross-functional design integration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, computational engineering, or related field.
• Strong grounding in material behavior, heat transfer, solid mechanics, and numerical modeling.
• Ability to construct models that accurately represent the important physics, not simply operate analysis software.
• Experience with finite-element or multiphysics analysis; BISON/MOOSE experience is strongly preferred.
• Proficiency with Python for engineering analysis and visualization.
• Understanding of model verification and validation, software quality assurance, and reproducible analysis.
• Ability to work effectively with mechanical designers and engineers across materials, neutronics, and thermal-hydraulics.
• Sound technical judgment appropriate to the candidate’s level of experience.
• Ability to learn quickly, work with incomplete data, and clearly identify model limitations.

Responsibilities

• Develop and apply models for fuel, graphite, and core metallic components using BISON/MOOSE and related tools.
• Predict how irradiation, temperature, stress, chemistry, and operating history affect component dimensions, material properties, structural behavior, and service life.
• Work directly with mechanical designers to evaluate materials, geometry, tolerances, clearances, interfaces, and lifetime margins.
• Integrate inputs from neutronics and thermal hydraulics, and assess how changes in reactor conditions or component design affect in-core degradation and performance.
• Translate modeling results into actionable design inputs, operating limits, test needs, and lifetime criteria.
• Develop or adapt material and constitutive models where existing capabilities do not adequately represent the relevant physics.
• Use Python for data processing, analysis automation, visualization, and communication of results.
• Apply rigorous software quality assurance, verification, validation, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification.
• Develop defensible, physics-based analysis methods where established codes or directly applicable design rules are insufficient.
• Use AI-assisted tools to accelerate analysis, model development, data review, and documentation while maintaining technical traceability and independently verifying results.
• Clearly communicate model assumptions, limitations, uncertainties, and conclusions across engineering teams.

Skills

Nuclear engineering fundamentals

Computational modeling

Python programming

Material behavior knowledge

Finite element methods

Education

Bachelor’s degree in nuclear/me mechanical engineering or related field

Tools

BISON/MOOSE

Python tooling

Job description

Aalo Atomics is seeking an engineer to model in-core performance and lifetime of fuel and core components in extreme environments. This role combines modeling with engineering judgment and works with mechanical design, neutronics, and thermal hydraulics.

Early-career candidates will work closely with the technical lead to develop methods and judgment; more experienced engineers will own larger analysis areas and guide cross-functional design integration.