Thermal Hydraulics Methods and Scaling Engineer – Molten Salt

Location: Bellevue,Washington,United States

TITLE:               Thermal Hydraulics Methods and Scaling Engineer – Molten Salt
LOCATION:        Bellevue, WA
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 hire 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.
Thermal Hydraulics Methods and Scaling Engineer – Molten Salt
Reporting to the Thermal Hydraulics, MCFR Manager, the Thermal Hydraulics Methods and Scaling Engineer – Molten Salt is responsible for both thermal-hydraulics plant-wide and component level steady-state and transient analysis, methods development and scaling with application to the TerraPower Molten Salt reactor program.  The successful candidate will produce models for evaluation of various reactor designs including novel systems, including experimental facility design as needed.  The analyses may also involve use of existing in-house and other commercial codes or may involve generation of new codes and methods or augmentation of existing code. 

Responsibilities

•    Use nuclear systems codes to thoroughly analyze steady state and transient performance of molten salts systems
•    Develop and apply other thermal-hydraulic analysis methods as needed, including steady state and transient scaled one-dimensional network hydraulic analysis
•    Perform code benchmarking and validation analyses to support code qualification and methodology development
•    Perform calculations using first principles of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics to support and validate analysis results
•    Integrate with other engineering groups performing aspects of component, system, fuel, and control system design and related thermal-hydraulic testing
•    Design experiments to validate code results
•    Depending upon the experience and qualifications and other duties and priorities, conduct testing.

Key Qualifications and Skills

•    MS w/+10 years or PhD w/+5 years in nuclear or mechanical engineering 
•    Strong thermal-hydraulic analytical skills 
•    Substantial (> 3-5 years) experience using a system code such as GOTHIC, MOOSE/SAM, FLOWNEX, and/or Modelica. 
•    Experience developing new analytical methods
•    Experience with applying scaling for experiment design and post-experiment data analysis.
•    Familiarity with code V&V and associated regulatory requirements
•    Experience with nuclear engineering design or operations a plus
•    Experience with first-of-a-kind or high temperature nuclear reactor design projects is a plus
•    Strong technical writing skills
•    Effective communication skills 

Job Functions 
Job Functions are physical actions and/or working conditions associated with the position.  These functions may also constitute essential functions for the job which the employee must be able to fulfill, with or without accommodation.  Information provided below is to help describe the job so that the applicant has a reasonable understanding of the job duties/expectations