Principal Core Thermal Hydraulics Engineer

TerraPower·Bellevue, Washington, United States·Posted today

Nuclear industryUS only

About this role

Principal Core Thermal Hydraulics Engineer for TerraPower's sodium-cooled Natrium Reactor program. Lead development and validation of thermal-hydraulic methodologies, software, and analyses for fast reactor core design. Provide technical guidance across cross-disciplinary engineering teams on reactor core architecture, safety analysis, and licensing activities for the Natrium demonstration project.

Responsibilities

—Lead technical development and validation of thermal-hydraulic methodologies, software, and analysis tools for sodium-cooled fast reactor design
—Develop, qualify, and maintain computer codes for steady-state and transient nuclear reactor core thermal-hydraulics analysis
—Perform thermal-hydraulic analysis and engineering calculations of reactor core components to evaluate reactor architecture options
—Support critical design decisions addressing reactor core design challenges and work with cross-disciplinary teams on thermal and mechanical design considerations
—Establish and maintain system requirements and design basis documents for reactor core design
—Support licensing activities for Natrium demonstration project, including preparation of licensing submittals and design reviews
—Provide technical presentations, prepare formal reports documenting analysis findings and recommendations
—Provide oversight during test execution, evaluation of results, and reporting; support project planning and define work scopes for critical project paths

Qualifications

—B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Mechanical, Nuclear, or related Engineering discipline from accredited university
—Minimum 15 years related experience (B.S.), 8 years (M.S.), or 5 years (Ph.D.)
—Demonstrated expertise in thermal-hydraulic analysis of nuclear reactor cores; strong background in heat and mass transfer in reactor systems
—5+ years of technical leadership and/or project management experience
—Expertise in Python programming and software development, qualification, verification & validation
—Strong verbal and written communication skills to meet NQA-1 documentation requirements
—Proven problem-solving ability and ability to manage competing design constraints

Desired

—C++ programming proficiency
—Experience with high-performance computing (HPC) environments
—Software Quality Assurance (SQA) and Nuclear Quality Assurance (NQA-1) standards experience
—Expertise in liquid metal thermal-hydraulics
—Experience with nuclear reactor analysis codes (subchannel codes or system thermal-hydraulic codes)