Principal Thermal Hydraulic Test Engineer

Location: Everett,Washington,United States

TITLE: Principal Thermal Hydraulic Test Engineer

LOCATION: Everett, WA, USA   

TerraPower is a nuclear technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At its core, the company is working to raise living standards globally through a more affordable, secure and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy along with innovations in medical isotopes to improve human health. In 2006, TerraPower originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications – all for significant human health benefits.

TerraPower is seeking to contract highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape and bringing forward the critical production of medical isotopes.  TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, as a federal contractor, TerraPower has instituted an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) in an effort to proactively recruit, hire, and promote women, minorities, disabled persons and veterans.

Principal Thermal Hydraulic Test Engineer

Reporting to the Manager of Thermal Hydraulic Testing, the Principal Thermal Hydraulic Test Engineer is responsible for designing and conducting thermal hydraulic tests to support analytic analysis of for the Natrium Demonstration Plant.  The successful candidate will support all aspects of thermal hydraulic testing activities including planning, testing, document review, engaging with external vendors, and generating documents. 

Responsibilities

•    Develop and apply thermal-hydraulic analysis methods, including steady state and transient one-dimensional network hydraulic analyses.

•    Perform calculations using first principles of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics to support and validate analysis results.

•    Perform analysis of reactor normal operations, upset events, emergency events and faulted events as defined in the ASME BPVC Section III to establish design, service, and test loadings and limits.

•    Perform multiscale and multidisciplinary neutronics and control analyses involving the thermal hydraulics of sodium, molten salt, and non-condensable fluids.

•    Integrate with other engineering groups performing aspects of component, system, fuel, and control system design and related thermal-hydraulic testing.

•    Perform code benchmarking and validation analyses to support code qualification and methodology development.

Key Qualifications and Skills

•    Master’s degree in applicable field of Engineering

•    Greater than three (10) years of relevant experience in a testing / research and development environment preferred.

•    Experience working in a laboratory environment

•    Strong thermal-hydraulic analytical skills with one dimensional hydraulic network analysis, system codes experience and transient analysis.

•    Experience with post-processing and documenting experiments.

•    Experience with multiple types of testing (R&D, Acceptance, Validation, Qualification)

•    Ability to work with a multidisciplinary team of engineers

•    Ability to handle projects that include multiple objectives and ability to resolve conflicts between objectives.

•    Ability to work on multiple tasks concurrently during a given work week.

•    Excellent writing and communication skills.

•    Safety conscience.

•    Ability to work with minimum direction to solve challenging research and development problems.

•    The successful candidate