Intern, R&D Graduate Year-Round - Applied Nuclear Technologies, Onsite

Sandia National Laboratories; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 28,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Affordable housing

Minimal traffic congestion

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, invites applications for a Year-Round R&D Graduate Intern to join the Critical Experiments Team. The role supports design of experiments to advance safe fissionable material operations and provides benchmark-quality data for the NCS community.

Candidates will perform neutron transport modeling, data analysis, and publish findings while working within a responsible research team in a secure environment.

Qualifications

• Earned bachelor's degree.
• Currently attending and enrolled full time in an accredited science, engineering, or math graduate program.
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0.
• Ability to work up to 30 hours per week during the academic year, and up to 40 hours per week during the summer.
• Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.

Responsibilities

• Apply existing knowledge and gain new knowledge towards designing, performing, and documenting critical benchmark experiments.
• Perform neutron transport modeling and data analysis.
• Conduct research and publish.
• Demonstrate the ability to work effectively and responsibly in a research team, and contribute towards a safe and secure working environment.

Skills

Neutron transport modeling

Data analysis

Team collaboration

Scientific writing

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Graduate program in science/engineering/math

Tools

MCNP

SCALE

Job description

Search for job title, job req id, military title, keywords

Search for City, State, Country, Zip Code

The Applied Nuclear Technologies department is seeking a motivated Year-Round R&D Graduate Intern to join our Critical Experiments Team. The successful candidate will assist in the design of experiments to support safe and efficient fissionable material operations. These integral criticality benchmark-quality experiments provide the Nuclear Critically Safety (NCS) community the ability to resolve biases associated with the computational tools used for evaluating criticality safety.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

Apply existing knowledge and gain new knowledge towards designing, performing, and documenting critical benchmark experiments

Perform neutron transport modeling and data analysis

Conduct research and publish

Demonstrate the ability to work effectively and responsibly in a research team, and contribute towards a safe and secure working environment

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

Salary Range:

At Sandia, we value the important work done by our interns and its contribution to National Security. Because of this, our interns earn competitive pay rates. Our pay structure is based on earned credit hours, classification, and degree level. Your pay rate will be determined during the hire process and included in your offer package. You can view the Intern Pay Rate chart here (https://www.sandia.gov/app/uploads/sites/51/2024/12/Student-Rate-Sheet-2025.docx) .

Qualifications We Require:

You bring the confidence and skills to be eligible for the job by meeting these minimum requirements:

Earned bachelor's degree

Currently attending and enrolled full time in an accredited science, engineering, or math graduate program

Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0

Ability to work up to 30 hours per week during the academic year, and up to 40 hours per week during the summer

Ability to secure and maintatin a U.S. security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship

Qualifications We Desire:

Enrolled in a Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Physics program

Basic understanding of Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) principles and practices

Experience in MCNP or SCALE code packages

Basic understanding of sensitivity and uncertainty techniques for use in NCS

Knowledge in programming for automation, optimization, and analysis

Ability to work in a team environment and independently to solve challenging problems

Strong verbal and written communication skills

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

About Our Team:

As a part of the Radiation & Electrical Sciences Center, the Applied Nuclear Technologies Department (org. 1314) explores, develops, and applies physics and engineering principles to many areas of nuclear and electrical engineering. The Department is responsible for the Device Physics, Energetic Neutrons, and Transient Neutrons portion of the Sandia¿s Weapon Survivability (WS) Program. Our group conducts high fidelity radiation effects experiments on semiconductor devices and materials at facilities such as the Annular Core Research Reactor, the National Ignition Facility, and the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in support of national security missions. We collaborate with the Nuclear Facilities Operations and the Radiation Modeling and Metrology departments at Sandia to 1) tailor and characterize appropriate testing environments in the TA-V nuclear facilities to meet customer needs and 2) design and conduct nuclear criticality experiments in the Sandia Critical Experiments (SCX) Facility for the NNSA DOE Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) and developed and deliver Hands-on training with critical experiments for the NCSP. This team is part of the Radiation, Electrical and High Energy Density Science (REHEDS) Research Foundation at Sandia.

About Sandia:

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide

Extraordinary co-workers

Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world

Career advancement and enrichment opportunities

Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)

Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

*These benefits vary by job classification.

Security Clearance:

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants for employment need to be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Applicants offered employment with Sandia are subject to a federal background investigation to meet the requirements for access to classified information or matter if the duties of the position require a DOE security clearance. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause a clearance to be denied or terminated by DOE, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

• Affordable housing, reasonable cost of living
• Minimal traffic congestion compared to larger cities
• At Sandia, recruiters manually review resumes on each job posting instead of using a resume screening software program
• By following the best practices outlined, this ensures that recruiters can accurately determine your qualifications for the position