Principal Engineer, Nuclear Methods — Reactor Modeling Lead

TerraPower LLC.; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 149,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Relocation assistance

401k plan

21 PTO days

Generous holiday schedule

Job summary

TerraPower LLC. seeks a Principal Engineer, Nuclear Methods to advance reactor design and simulation software for licensing and safety validation. You will lead development and analysis using state-of-the-art methods, collaborating across engineering teams and external partners.

The role emphasizes rigorous documentation, automation, and training of designers, with substantial emphasis on uncertainty and safety margins in fast-neutron reactor projects.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. and 5+ years in Nuclear Engineering or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree with 8+ years experience considered on case-by-case basis.
• Experience with fast reactor physics and design intuition.
• Experience with nuclear design/analysis methodologies (criticality, flux distributions, fuel management, etc.).
• Strong programming in Python, C++, Fortran is a bonus.
• Proven ability to integrate and automate simulation tools.

Responsibilities

• Create formal documentation of nuclear methods software requirements, design, implementation, and testing for licensing.
• Update, improve, and/or create software to satisfy licensing during V&V.
• Incorporate 3rd-party programs to support licensing in the simulation ecosystem.
• Design and execute sensitivity studies to understand modeling assumptions and physics coupling.
• Train and support reactor designers in the use of design software suite.
• Build methods to assess propagation of uncertainty and effects on safety margins.
• Enhance engineering team's ability to build models from simulation output.

Skills

Fast reactor physics

Nuclear design intuition

Deterministic transport

Stochastic transport

Python programming

C++ programming

Fortran programming

NRC QA experience

Education

Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering

Master’s in Nuclear Engineering with 8+ years

Tools

DIF3D

MCNP

Serpent

PARTISN

MC2

ARMI

Job description

TerraPower LLC. seeks a Principal Engineer, Nuclear Methods to advance reactor design and simulation software for licensing and safety validation. You will lead development and analysis using state-of-the-art methods, collaborating across engineering teams and external partners.

The role emphasizes rigorous documentation, automation, and training of designers, with substantial emphasis on uncertainty and safety margins in fast-neutron reactor projects.