Principal Fuel Materials Scientist — TRISO/Ceramic Lead

Protingent

Oak Ridge (TN)

On-site

USD 155,000 - 175,000

Full time

14 days+

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Job summary

Protingent Staffing is seeking a Principal Fuel Materials Scientist for a direct-hire opportunity in Oak Ridge, TN onsite.

You will design and execute experimental campaigns to close data gaps in thermomechanical properties of CVI SiC matrix, oversee irradiation campaigns, and drive in-house capability development from lab scale to production. The role requires deep nuclear materials expertise and experience with TRISO and ceramic systems.

Qualifications

Advanced degree (Ph.D. preferred) in Materials Science, Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a strictly related highly technical discipline.
5+ years of experience in nuclear-fuel, coated-particle, ceramic, or composite materials characterization and testing.
Demonstrated ability to develop, validate, and transfer destructive and nondestructive characterization methods, including calibration, measurement uncertainty, detection limits, repeatability, reproducibility, and reference standards.
Experience defining material lots, statistically defensible sampling plans, acceptance criteria, defect populations, and data-reduction methods for heterogeneous or low-defect-rate fuel products.
Experience executing qualification work under ASME NQA-1, 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix B, or equivalent nuclear QA controls with specimen identity, chain of custody, data pedigree, nonconformance, and configuration management.
Proven ability to translate process-structure-property relationships into controlled material and manufacturing specifications suitable for representative fuel production.

Responsibilities

Design and execute experimental campaigns to close qualification data gaps on thermomechanical properties of CVI SiC under extreme conditions.
Plan fuel irradiation campaigns, modify fuel specs based on data, and oversee external fuel fabrication with vendors.
Develop in-house capabilities for sol-gel, TRISO coating, binder-jet 3D printing, and CVI; architect scale-up from lab to production.
Develop and validate parallel fuel characterization methods to meet regulatory standards.
Define material attributes, process parameters, characterization methods, sampling plans, and acceptance criteria for irradiation and safety-test qualification.