Neutronics Engineer

Socket.dev; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Ocean Atomics is seeking a Neutronics Engineer to design, simulate, and document reactor core performance for maritime nuclear power systems. You will work with a close-knit core design team to develop multiphysics models and validate results for licensing and product optimization.

You will analyze criticality, transmutation, and shutdown margins, and contribute to transient analyses and simulator data. Strong writing and collaboration skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering or Engineering Physics required.
• 5+ years of professional experience designing reactor cores preferred.
• Experience building and running core neutronics simulations required.
• Strong working knowledge of multiple deterministic and stochastic neutronics tools preferred.
• Excellent technical writing skills required.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and expand core design simulations for criticality, decay, shutdown margins, and kinetics.
• Develop and support coupled multiphysics models for normal and transient behavior.
• Analyze and optimize core performance for licensing docs and product optimization.
• Document design results rigorously and justify methodologies for licensing reviews.
• Provide core data for transient analyses and for simulator/operational physics teams.
• Perform shielding and activation analyses to support design.

Skills

Neutronics simulations

Nuclear design couplings

Team collaboration

Reactor simulation tools

Computing proficiency

Technical writing

Education

Bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering or Engineering Physics

Tools

MCNP

OpenMC

CASMO/SIMULATE

VERA

DRAGON

Job description

The ocean is the largest undeveloped frontier on earth — and the next chapter of abundant energy will be written at sea. We're building the infrastructure to power it.

About Ocean Atomics (OA)

Ocean Atomics 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

Scale nuclear energy. Power generations.

Our vision

A maritime commons thriving with abundant, economical, modern, and safe nuclear-powered activity — built, serviced, and staffed by re-industrialized American shipyards and people.

Our Neutronics Engineers will design, simulate, optimize, and document the neutronic aspects of our reactor core.

What You'll Do

• Maintain and expand core design simulations, including simple and complex models covering criticality, transmutation/decay, shutdown margin/control rod worth, kinetics parameters, frequency domain stability, etc.

• Work with larger core design team to develop coupled multiphysics models supporting normal and transient behavior

• Analyze and optimize core performance in support of trade studies, licensing documentation, and product optimization

• Rigorously document design results

• Justify calculation methodologies and their V&VV in support of the licensing process

• Provide core design information in transient analysis studies

• Provide core information to simulator and operational physics teams

• Perform shielding and activation analysis supporting the design

What You Bring

Required

• Experience building and running sophisticated core neutronics simulations

• Strong understanding of nuclear design couplings, challenges, tradeoffs

• Ability to work on a close, rapidly iterative design team

• Strong working knowledge of two or more common reactor simulation tools

• Highly skilled with computers

• Strong technical writing skills

Preferred

• Bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering or Engineering Physics

• 5+ years professional experience designing cores

• Strong working knowledge of many common deterministic and stochastic neutronics tools (e.g. MCNP, OpenMC, CASMO/SIMULATE, VERA, DRAGON, etc.)

Don't meet every bullet? We'd still like to hear from you. If you're excited by the mission and most of this resonates, apply. Export control notice.

This role involves access to information subject to U.S. export control laws, including unclassified nuclear technology governed by the U.S. Department of Energy under 10 CFR Part 810. Depending on a candidate's status, access may require DOE authorization, which Ocean Atomics may apply for. Any offer is contingent on your ability to work in compliance with these requirements. We evaluate all applicants regardless of citizenship or national origin, except where required by law.

Why this matters

Every industry on Earth needs scalable, clean energy, and the ocean is the ideal place to unlock it. Joining Ocean Atomics means building real, lasting infrastructure — the kind that powers generations. The world needs abundant energy. Let's make it happen.

Ocean Atomics LLC is an equal opportunity employer.

We are committed to a workplace free of discrimination and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations; if you need an accommodation during the application process, contact [e-mail].