Nuclear Criticality Safety - R&D Associate Staff Member

Requisition Id 13162 

Overview:

We are seeking a Nuclear Criticality Safety R&D Associate Staff Member who will focus on the use of computational nuclear modeling and simulation expertise and/or practical applications experience to provide problem-solving tools, technical solutions, and policy advice to customers within the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other government and private organizations. This position resides in the Nuclear Criticality Group in the Nuclear Criticality, Radiation Transport, and Safety Section, Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division (NEFCD), Fusion and Fission Engineering and Science Directorate, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

As part of our research team, you will combine your nuclear criticality safety expertise and knowledge of applicable nuclear data, coupled with methods/software applications and/or code development experience. Our group is involved in the development, improvement, and maintenance of several key codes and capabilities in the SCALE code system, principally those associated with criticality safety analyses. We are a leader in research and development associated with criticality safety in general, and the use of burnup credit for commercial spent nuclear fuel storage, transport, and disposal systems in particular. Our group collaborates closely with other NEFCD and ORNL groups working in areas such as reactor physics, radiation transport, nuclear data, nuclear system safety, spent fuel storage, transportation and disposal, radiation detector modeling and simulation, nuclear security modeling, and nuclear nonproliferation.

Our ideal candidate will be a motivated, self-starter with the ability to work independently and to participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory. Additionally, you’ll need to have the ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines, and adapt to ever-changing needs.

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. With a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,000 people, ORNL’s decadal vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is to cultivate an environment and practices that foster diversity in ideas and in the people across the organization, as well as to ensure ORNL is recognized as a workplace of choice. These elements are critical for enabling the execution of ORNL’s broader mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and their translation into energy, environment, and security solutions for the nation.

Major Duties/Responsibilities:

• Perform applied research and development in the area of nuclear criticality safety
• Contribute to and lead R&D projects
• Independently solve technical problems
• Assist in the development, testing, and maintenance of the SCALE code system
• Publish and present results of studies in appropriate venues
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service.
• Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by fostering a respectful workplace

Basic Qualifications:

• A degree in nuclear engineering or a related discipline with a minimum of
• 4 years of experience with a BS degree,
• 2 years of experience with an MS degree, or
• 0 years of experience with a PhD degree
• Experience in nuclear system modeling and simulation
• Experience in nuclear criticality safety, specifically process criticality safety

Preferred Qualifications:

• Motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory
• Ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines and adapt to changing needs
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Experience with the SCALE code system, especially with the CSAS and TSUNAMI sequences
• Experience with other code systems used in nuclear criticality safety
• Experience in one or more of the following areas:
• Methods, approaches, and technical bases for criticality safety of fissile material
• Burnup credit methods, analysis, and validation
• Sensitivity/uncertainty studies
• Critical experiment design and experiment evaluation
• Regulatory reviews and guidance development
• Criticality calculation validation techniques
• Evaluation of criticality accident alarm systems
• Development and testing of nuclear modeling and simulation software