Senior Fuel Design Engineer

Protingent; Oak Ridge (TN); On-site; USD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Protingent Staffing seeks a Lead Fuel Design Engineer to lead the design and iteration of KRONOS hexagonal prismatic nuclear fuel elements. You will own specifications for coolant channels, poison locations, and alignment features, while coordinating with performance and thermal-hydraulics teams to evaluate design impacts.

The role requires 7+ years in nuclear fuel design, strong 3D CAD/PLM skills, and extensive experience with ASME/NQA-1 design control practices. onsite in Oak Ridge, TN.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of nuclear fuel design experience with safety-significant hardware.
• Ability to translate performance data into physical design changes.
• Experience with 3D CAD, GD&T, and engineering drawing control.

Responsibilities

• Own design specifications for KRONOS hexagonal prismatic fuel elements and coolant channels.
• Collaborate with fuel performance and thermal-hydraulics teams to assess design changes.
• Maintain control of 3D models, drawings, and GD&T per QA standards.
• Incorporate regulatory feedback and irradiation data into design updates.
• Anchor CAD models and drawings in Teamcenter with strict configuration management.
• Ensure traceability from requirements to acceptance criteria and test articles.

Skills

Nuclear fuel design

3D CAD

PLM (Product Lifecycle Management)

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical/Nuclear/Aerospace Engineering or related field

Tools

Siemens Teamcenter

Job description

Position Title:

Lead Fuel Design Engineer

Position Description:

Protingent Staffing has an exciting direct hire Lead Fuel Design Engineer opportunity.

Job Responsibilities:

• Design Ownership & Iteration: Serve as the primary design authority for the KRONOS hexagonal prismatic fuel elements, owning the specifications for coolant channels, burnable poison locations, and dowel/socket alignment features.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Collaborate directly with fuel performance and thermal-hydraulics engineers analyze how proposed physical modifications to fuel specifications alter thermal-mechanical behavior and core reactivity.
• Drawing & Specification Control: Author, update, and rigorously control all 3D engineering models, 2D manufacturing drawings, and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) for the fuel assemblies.
• Regulatory & Empirical Adaptation: Implement necessary design modifications driven by iterative regulatory feedback, vendor fabrication constraints, and empirical data generated from ongoing irradiation testing campaigns.
• Configuration Management: Anchor all CAD models, technical drawings, and design modifications within Siemens Teamcenter, ensuring strict adherence to nuclear Quality Assurance standards for product lifecycle management.
• Qualification Design Basis: Own the traceability from fuel functional requirements and safety-analysis limits to controlled drawings, material specifications, acceptance criteria, and qualification test-article configurations. Assess whether manufactured and irradiated specimens remain representative of the licensed KRONOS fuel design.

Job Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a strictly related highly technical discipline.
• Nuclear Fuel Design Experience: 7+ years of experience in engineering design, with direct responsibility for nuclear fuel, reactor internals, graphite or ceramic components, or comparable safety-significant hardware. With demonstrated proficiency in advanced 3D CAD software and enterprise Product Lifecycle Management.
• Proven ability to translate computational performance data and experimental feedback into actionable, physical design modifications.
• Qualification Specimen Definition: Demonstrated ability to convert design requirements into specimen configurations, manufacturing specifications, inspection criteria, interface-control documents, and as-built acceptance records for irradiation or safety testing.
• Design Control: Working knowledge of ASME NQA-1 or 10 CFR Part 50 Appendix B design-control practices, including design inputs, independent verification, interface control, configuration management, and change-impact assessment.
• Fuel Requirements Traceability: Experience maintaining traceability among functional requirements, drawings, material and process specifications, analysis assumptions, test conditions, acceptance criteria, and safety limits.
• Manufacturing & Metrology: Practical experience resolving manufacturability, tolerance, inspection, and metrology issues without invalidating design margins or qualification representativeness.

Preferred Job Qualifications:

• Direct applied experience designing nuclear fuel assemblies, high-temperature ceramic components, or complex graphite structures.
• Familiarity with ASME NQA-1 quality assurance requirements, specifically regarding formal design control, verification, and documentation.
• Background in extreme-environment mechanical design derived from parallel industries (e.g., aerospace thermal protection, defense) transitioning into the nuclear sector.

Job Details:

• Job Type: Full-time
• Salary Range: $160-180k
• Location: Oak Ridge, TN (Onsite)

About Protingent:

Protingent is an Award-Winning provider of top-tier Engineering and IT talent, trusted by companies at the forefront of innovation — from Software and Aerospace to AI, Clean Tech, Medical Devices, and Connected Technologies. We’re passionate about making a positive impact by connecting exceptional talent with meaningful opportunities and helping our clients build the future.