Nuclear Electrical Design Engineer

Socket.dev; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Ocean Atomics LLC seeks an accomplished Electrical Engineer to lead the design of electrical power systems for its nuclear marine plants. You will develop the plant’s electrical architecture from requirements through schematics and equipment specifications, ensuring safety, reliability, and regulatory compliance.

The role requires 10+ years in nuclear or marine power systems, strong expertise in power system analysis software, and experience with design reports and regulator reviews.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• 10+ years in electrical power system design on nuclear/marine/utility or code-governed power systems.
• Experience with safety-related electrical design requirements (1E).
• Strong knowledge of power system analysis software (ETAP/SKM/EasyPower).
• Experience producing design reports and calculation packages for regulatory review.
• Experience sizing and specifying DC systems and uninterruptible power.
• Knowledge of cable/raceway design and separation/penetration treatment.

Responsibilities

• Develop electrical power system design for nuclear plant from requirements to diagrams and specifications.
• Document design basis: voltage, frequency, load classification, safety divisions, design life, duty cycle and codes.
• Design safety-related and non-safety-related distribution including switchgear, batteries, inverters, and protection.
• Specify power supplies to reactor loads and ensure isolation between safety-related and non-safety-related circuits.
• Perform protective device coordination and selectivity per safety/availability requirements.
• Produce design reports and calculation packages for suppliers and regulators.
• Lead design reviews at all design stages and manage changes through configuration control.
• Define vessel electrical integration and interfaces with generation/distribution systems.

Skills

Power system analysis

Electrical safety design

Nuclear power systems

Protection coordination

Load flow/short-circuit

Cable and raceway design

Configuration control

DC systems knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

ETAP

SKM

EasyPower

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.

Role Summary

What You’ll Do

Electrical System Design

• Develop the electrical power system design for the nuclear plant from functional requirements through detailed one-line diagrams, schematics, elementary and connection diagrams, cable schedules, and equipment specifications.

• Establish and document the design basis for each system and load, including voltage and frequency, load classification, safety class and division assignment, design life, duty cycle, and applicable codes and standards.

• Design safety-related and non-safety-related distribution: switchgear, load centers, motor control centers, vital AC and DC systems, batteries, chargers, inverters, and their protection.

• Specify power supplies to reactor plant loads including control rod drive mechanisms, coolant pumps, motor-operated valves, heat tracing, and instrument and control power, and define the isolation between safety-related and non-safety-related circuits.

• Perform protective device coordination and selectivity, and specify protection and control schemes consistent with the plant's safety and availability requirements.

• Produce design specifications, design reports, and the supporting calculation packages that flow to suppliers and to the certifying authority.

• Lead design reviews at concept, preliminary, critical, and final design stages. Drive resolution of action items and design changes through formal configuration control.

Vessel Integration

• Define the boundary and interface between the nuclear plant electrical system and the vessel's generation and distribution, including which loads are served from which source under each operating and casualty condition.

• Define equipment arrangement, mounting, and access requirements within the constraints of the vessel hull, deck structure, and surrounding plant systems.

• Design equipment mounts, restraints, and cable support to transfer loads into the ship's primary structure without compromising either the equipment or the hull.

• Route cable and define penetration treatment across watertight, fire, and shielding boundaries while preserving divisional separation and boundary integrity.

• Coordinate with naval architecture and structural engineering on deck accelerations at equipment locations, weight and center-of-gravity impact, and the load path from equipment to hull.

• Resolve interface issues with adjacent disciplines: mechanical, piping, instrumentation and control, HVAC, shielding, and maintenance access.

• Support outfitting sequence planning so that equipment can be installed, terminated, tested, and commissioned within the shipyard build strategy.

What You Bring

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Technology, or a closely related discipline.

• 10+ years of electrical power system design experience on nuclear, marine, utility, or other code-governed power systems, with at least 5 years on nuclear systems.

• Demonstrated working knowledge of safety-related (Class 1E) electrical design requirements, including redundancy, divisional independence, single-failure criterion, and separation.

• Strong proficiency with power system analysis software (ETAP, SKM, EasyPower, or equivalent), including load flow, short-circuit, protective device coordination, and motor-starting analysis.

• Direct experience producing design reports, calculation packages, or equivalent code-compliant analyses that have been reviewed by a third party or regulator.

• Experience sizing and specifying DC systems and uninterruptible power: station batteries, chargers, inverters, and vital AC and DC distribution.

• Working knowledge of cable and raceway design: ampacity and derating, voltage drop, raceway fill, separation and segregation, and penetration treatment.

• Working knowledge of equipment qualification principles, environmental, seismic and shock, and vibration, and of how qualification evidence is assembled and defended.

Preferred

• Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.

• Professional Engineer (PE) license.

• Experience applying the IEEE nuclear standards set and the corresponding NRC Regulatory Guides.

• Experience with an environmental qualification program under 10 CFR 50.49, including qualified life determination and maintenance of the EQ file.

• Experience supporting a regulatory licensing submittal or a classification society design appraisal.

• Experience with classification society electrical rules (ABS, DNV, Lloyd's Register) and with IEC 60092 shipboard electrical installation requirements.

• Experience in shipbuilding, offshore, or naval applications, including main and emergency switchboard design, generator paralleling, power management systems, blackout recovery and dead-ship start, and shore power connection.

• Experience with medium-voltage distribution, integrated electric propulsion, variable frequency drives, and harmonic analysis and mitigation.

• Experience with loss-of-offsite-power and station blackout coping analysis, emergency generator sizing and loading, and load shedding and sequencing schemes.

• Experience with grounding and ground-fault detection philosophy for both solidly grounded and isolated (IT) distribution systems.

• Experience with arc flash and incident energy analysis and with electrical safety program requirements.

• Familiarity with NQA-1 quality assurance program requirements.

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].