Nuclear Spent Fuel Engineer

Vistra Corp.; Cleveland (OH); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Vistra Nuclear Operations Company in Cleveland, Ohio is seeking a senior engineer to lead spent fuel management, storage, and related licensing activities across multiple nuclear locations. This position emphasizes safety, regulatory compliance, and engineering rigor to support safe, reliable plant operations.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and at least six years of relevant experience in nuclear engineering, fuel handling, or related fields.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited program.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant job experience in nuclear engineering, fuel handling, or related fields.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements, licensing basis documents, and engineering procedures.
• Experience preparing or reviewing engineering calculations, technical evaluations, or vendor documents.
• Ability to support field activities, refueling outages, and readiness reviews.

Responsibilities

• Leads spent fuel storage and related engineering evaluations.
• Coordinates projects, design changes, and procedures through completion.
• Supports spent fuel pool management, storage configuration, and dry cask loading campaigns.
• Provides engineering support for Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation activities.

Skills

Nuclear engineering

Spent fuel management

Regulatory compliance

Engineering analysis

Outage support

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering — Nuclear, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical, Industrial, or related engineering discipline

Job description

If you have what it takes to become part of the Vistra family and would like to start a promising career with a global leader, take a look at the exciting employment opportunities that are currently available and apply online.

Job Summary

This position can also be based at any of our other nuclear locations:

• Oak Harbor, OH (Davis-Besse)
• Perry, OH (Perry)
• Shippingport, PA (Beaver Valley)
• Glen Rose, TX (Comanche Peak)

Job Description

Frequently works independently to identify and perform tasks required to meet Vistra objectives related to safe, reliable, and compliant management of spent nuclear fuel.

Supports the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of technical, operational, and regulatory information necessary for spent fuel pool management, dry cask storage, fuel movement planning, licensing compliance, and resolution of complex engineering issues.

The position will develop and maintain effective working relationships with Operations, Engineering, Radiation Protection, Licensing, Security, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, Nuclear Oversight, vendors, regulators, and external industry organizations.

Key Accountabilities

• Identifies and performs tasks as required to meet spent fuel management, nuclear safety, regulatory, and station objectives.
• Leads interpretation and analysis of complex spent fuel engineering issues, including criticality safety, shielding, thermal performance, decay heat, fuel qualification, dry cask storage, and fuel handling considerations.
• Coordinates assigned projects, studies, engineering evaluations, design changes, procedures, calculations, and initiatives through completion.
• Supports spent fuel pool management, fuel storage configuration control, fuel movement planning, and dry cask loading campaigns.
• Provides engineering support for Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation activities, including loading, transfer, storage, inspections, documentation, and maintenance support.
• Complies with safety policies and procedures to ensure a safe working environment and reinforces nuclear safety, radiological safety, industrial safety, and conservative decision-making.
• Prepares and presents reports, engineering evaluations, technical recommendations, and regulatory support documentation to resolve complex issues.
• Participates in, and on occasion leads, special projects, committees, readiness reviews, outage support activities, vendor interface meetings, regulatory inspections, and external industry organizations.
• Leads complex problem-solving efforts related to spent fuel storage systems, cask equipment, neutron absorbers, licensing basis compliance, operating experience, corrective actions, and emergent technical issues.
• Reviews vendor documents, technical manuals, calculations, procurement specifications, inspection results, and acceptance documentation for spent fuel storage systems and related equipment.
• Maintains awareness of applicable NRC requirements, Certificate of Compliance conditions, technical specifications, industry guidance, and station licensing basis requirements.

Education, Experience, and Skill Requirements

• 4 yrs. Bachelor’s degree in Engineering — Nuclear, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical, Industrial, or related engineering discipline — from an accredited program.
• Minimum 6 yrs. relevant job experience. Relevant experience may include nuclear engineering, fuel handling, reactor engineering, spent fuel pool operations, dry cask storage, licensing, plant systems engineering, radiation protection support, or nuclear safety analysis.
• Knowledge of commercial nuclear plant operations, regulatory requirements, licensing basis documents, technical specifications, engineering procedures, and corrective action processes.
• Experience preparing or reviewing engineering calculations, technical evaluations, procedures, design documents, regulatory inputs, or vendor technical documents.
• Ability to support field activities, refueling outages, dry cask loading campaigns, readiness reviews, inspections, and emergent station issues as needed.

Key Metrics

• Teamwork and collaboration skills across organizational boundaries.
• Able to communicate complex spent fuel, engineering, operational, and regulatory issues effectively through written and verbal communication.
• Able to influence by establishing effective working relationships across organizational boundaries, including station departments, fleet organizations, vendors, and external organizations.
• In-depth understanding of nuclear power plant equipment, fuel handling systems, spent fuel storage systems, dry cask storage equipment, and system interrelationships.
• Able to evaluate technical alternatives in light of nuclear safety, regulatory compliance, operational risk, schedule impact, and economic contribution to the business.
• Able to apply systematic problem-solving processes to address complex spent fuel engineering and storage issues.
• Demonstrates strong ownership of nuclear safety, technical quality, regulatory compliance, procedure adherence, and conservative engineering judgment.
• Supports reliable execution of spent fuel pool management, dry cask storage campaigns, inspections, corrective actions, and long-term spent fuel program objectives.
• Final pay grade will be based on applicant's experience and qualifications

Job Family

Engineering Services

Company

Vistra Nuclear Operations Company

Locations

• Cleveland, Ohio
• Ohio

If you currently work for Vistra or its subsidiaries, please apply via the internal career site.

It is the policy of the Company to comply with all employment laws and to afford equal employment opportunity to individuals in all aspects of employment, including in selection for job opportunities, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military service, protected veteran status, or any other consideration protected by federal, state or local laws.

If you are an individual with a disability and need assistance submitting an application or would like to request an accommodation, please email us at [e-mail] to make a request.