BWR Neutronics Reload Design & Analysis Engineer

The Core Design BWR-Richland (FDC-AR) department directly supports the reactor core design and reload licensing analysis needs for BWR fuel customers. The department performs a full range of neutronics, fuel management, and safety analysis of the fuel and core design including on-going development of codes and methods as well as maintenance of existing codes and methods used in those analyses.  BWR neutronics engineers are involved in developing nuclear fuel and core designs and analysis methods, establishing mechanical and fuel design safety limits, including evaluation of critical heat flux during normal operation and transient events, and developing neutronic and thermal-hydraulic code inputs and methods to support the fuel reload analyses and plant operations. We work closely with other engineering departments (mechanical, materials), customers, Project Management, and regulators. As part of the worldwide Fuel Design (FD) organization at FDC-AR interfaces with FD organizations at other locations in France, Germany, and the U.S. Within the worldwide Fuel Design (FD) organization of Framatome, the Richland location is the BWR Center of Excellence. As part of the U.S. Fuel Business Unit, FDC-AR interfaces with the fuel manufacturing plant, which is also located in Richland.

Primary responsibilities will include: 

• Assist with the design and licensing analyses of BWR fuel reloads.
• Work as part of a team that includes engineers from other departments and Codes and Methods development engineers as well as Project Managers responsible for different BWR fuel reload customers.
• Interface with and interaction with BWR customers usually starts as soon as basic reload design and analysis engineering capabilities have been established.
• Typical tasks include fuel assembly and core design, reload safety analysis of BWR reload designs, authoring and review of various design and reload licensing reports and documents, and review of engineering work performed by other team members.
• Reload design and analysis engineers work together with Codes and Methods development engineers to continue improvement and maintenance of methods and automation tools.

All candidates must meet the following minimum requirements in order to be considered for this opportunity.  Candidates who exceed minimum qualifications may be considered for a higher level position.

• Engineer III:  BS in Nuclear Engineering plus 3 - 5 years experience in reactor physics or fuel management engineering experience.  An advanced engineering degree may be substituted for related work experience (MS 1-2 yrs. or PhD 1-3 yrs.).
• Engineer IV:  BS in Nuclear Engineering plus 5 - 7 years experience in reactor physics or fuel management engineering experience.  An advanced engineering degree may be substituted for related work experience (MS 1-2 yrs. or PhD 1-3 yrs.).
• Principal Engineer:  BS in Nuclear Engineering plus 7 - 10 years experience in reactor physics or fuel management engineering experience.  An advanced engineering degree may be substituted for related work experience (MS 1-2 yrs. or PhD 1-3 yrs.).

The following requirements are desired and will be used to differentiate all candidates who apply for this position.

• BWR core design experience is required
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) is a plus but not a strict requirement.
• Work experience in the areas of neutronics/physics and/or thermal hydraulics design of BWR nuclear fuel assemblies and core reloads is required.
• Experience with BWR nuclear fuel neutronics analysis spectral/lattice codes (CASMO-3, CASMO-4, etc) and core simulator codes (SIMULATE, MICROBURN-B2, etc) is a plus.
• French, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and/or German language skills are a plus.
• Experience in Lean Six Sigma product/process development in design and engineering is a plus.
• Basic experience and capabilities with MICROSOFT Office software products (WORD, EXCEL, etc.) are required.
• Experience working with engineering workstation computers and LINUX and/or UNIX operating environments
• Computer programming/software capabilities and experience in FORTRAN, C/C++, SMALLTALK are a plus
• Must possess good verbal and written communication skills.
• Must have a pro-active approach to problem identification and resolution.
• Must have ability and attitude to learn a variety of new procedures, processes, and tools, while maintaining various stages of production.
• Must be able to work well in a fast-paced team environment.

Framatome is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. 

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Framatome is a major international player in the nuclear energy market recognized for its innovative solutions and value-added technologies for designing, building, maintaining, and advancing the global nuclear fleet. The company designs, manufactures, and installs components, fuel and instrumentation and control systems for nuclear power plants and offers a full range of reactor services.