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Posted by: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Mar 22, 2021


Location:

Rockville , MD 20852

Job Description:

Background

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proud to be ranked as a BEST Place to Work in the Federal Government. We've earned our top ratings by creating a work environment rich in opportunity, diversity, leadership training, teamwork, and work life balance. Help guide our nation into the next generation of nuclear safety! Begin a challenging career with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission where you can be part of a select group of professionals who protect people and the environment with the peaceful use of nuclear materials in medicine, industry and research.

Duties

This position is located in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES), Division of Systems Analysis (DSA), Code and Reactor Analysis Branch (CRAB), Rockville, MD.

This position has potential Contractor Representative Duties (COR) that may subject it to the Confidential Financial Disclosure reporting requirements, Rockville, MD.

As Reactor Systems Engineer, you will conduct and coordinate specialized research and analysis in the development, maintenance, and application of transient coupled neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and fuel performance computer codes to support the resolution of relevant technical issues.

You will provide coordination, planning, development, and technical direction of relevant safety research programs.

Duties include but not limited to:

1. Performs routine studies of detailed thermal-hydraulic, neutronic, and nuclear fuel performance behavior using advanced multiphysics computational codes (e.g., TRACE-PARCS-BISON and TRACE-PARCS-FAST and the NRC Blue Crab Suite of codes for advanced non-LWRs).
2. Performs routine confirmatory calculations and supports reviews and evaluations of the safety and non-safety related reactor systems design, process design parameters, technical specifications, the reactor core, fuel and systems design, nuclear methods, or performance of operating reactor and new reactor designs (including advanced non-LWRs).
3. Supports the development of plans and objectives for analytic and experimental research programs to support the development and maintenance of constitutive relationships and correlations to improve the accuracy of code simulations and extend code capabilities. Performs detailed Verification and Validation studies to evaluate the applicability of NRC computer codes to proposed regulatory uses.
4. Prepares and delivers presentations for technical and programmatic review meetings. Attends and participates in technical conferences and seminars sponsored by the NRC and/or professional societies for addressing reactor safety and thermal-hydraulic code issues, as requested.
5. May be required to manage contracts with the National Laboratories (Department of Energy), other Government agencies, academic institutions, and private contractors in support of licensing reviews. May serve as a COR (Contract Officer Representative) and manage programs and contracts.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (12) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as experience that demonstrates the knowledge of reactor and nuclear power plant systems design and analysis, particularly relating to thermal-hydraulics and computer languages (e.g. Fortran, C++, Java, PYTHON, Lua, and Perl).

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

1. Demonstrated knowledge of engineering principles and mathematical models and methods for steady state and transient analysis of nuclear reactor thermal hydraulic systems and neutronics and reactor fuel designs, particularly related to development, maintenance, assessment, and application of analytical codes (such as TRACE, SAM and PARCS, MAMMOTH and FAST, BISON), multiphysics code-coupling frameworks (such as MOOSE), and user interfaces (such as SNAP) for the analysis of PWRs, BWRs, research and test reactors, and advanced non-LWR reactor systems and nuclear fuel designs. Examples may include your experience in applying your knowledge to nuclear regulatory research programs on reactor coolant thermal hydraulic systems, neutronics, and nuclear fuel performance under normal and postulated off-normal conditions (e.g., Anticipated Transient Without SCRAM), design basis accident conditions (e.g., LOCA), and severe accident conditions to support the safety assessment of nuclear power plants. Examples may also include how well you performed).
2. Demonstrated skill of computer code planning, development, maintenance, assessment, and application for TRACE and PARCS including skills with code development tools (such as: Microsoft Visual Studio, Intel Fortran and GFORTRAN compilers at or greater than the FORTRAN 2008 standard), and ability to maintain thermal hydraulic and neutronic reactor systems codes and fuel performance codes such as SAM, MAMMOTH, and BISON to meet emerging analysis needs introduced by new advanced non-LWR systems and new fuel design features. Examples may include your experience of computer code planning, development, maintenance, assessment, and application that you have led or been involved in including identification of code improvements, modification of code structure, verification testing, and related documentation. Examples may also include your specific role and specific work products that reflect your technical knowledge and contribution to the projects. Examples may also include your experience of your knowledge of Fortran C++ and Python.
3. Demonstrated skill in preparing contracts to support complex technical nuclear regulatory research programs and knowledge of administrative and policy issues to identify their effect on the management of complex technical programs. Examples may include your specific education, work experience and developmental assignments that demonstrate your skill in identifying, planning and acquiring resources for assigned programs. Examples may also include your experience in evaluating varied proposals and approaches to management issues and recommending and implementing changes for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of a program or project.
4. Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with management and staff, coworkers, and personnel of other U.S. government agencies or equivalent industry organizations and/or international organizations. Examples may include your experience of instances that required you to use tact, diplomacy, and negotiation skills to achieve cooperation and develop consensus and your ability to use informal and formal networks to build support for programs. This may include your experience to serve as a point of contact on thermal hydraulic and neutronic analysis, and new and advanced reactor designs, with other program offices, the Commission or equivalent industry organizations, advisory groups, international organizations, and/or other stakeholders, and your experience providing advice and recommendations on research areas and initiatives to enhance regulatory effectiveness and efficiency. Provide examples of specific assignments that required you to work within a team environment, the techniques used to develop effective working relationships, and your role on the team.
5. Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate technical information both orally and in writing. Examples may include your specific experience and accomplishments which demonstrate your ability to lead complex technical discussions and to consolidate complex and diverse opinions into concise, balanced and well-founded recommendations and your ability to produce high quality technical reports.
A description of how you possess the specialized experience as well as how you meet the qualifications desired in an ideal candidate should be addressed in your resume and additional space provided for supplemental response.

Education

Qualification for All Professional Engineering 0800 Series:

Basic Requirements:
1. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor’s degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.
OR
1. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:
2. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
3. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
4. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.
5. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor’s degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

How to Apply

Visit www.nrc.gov Review the NRC Career Opportunities page, click on “Apply Now” then “Search for New Opportunities” and click on “view a list of current NRC vacancies, please visit USAJobs EXIT.” Find the Reactor Systems Engineer Job Announcement Number RES/DSA-2021-0006 and apply on-line by April 12, 2021. We strongly encourage you to read the entire announcement before you submit your application for this position so that you correctly submit all necessary materials and documentation. If you are viewing this opportunity after April 12th please visit NRC’s website and discover additional opportunities for which you might be interested.

Education Level:

Bachelors degree or higher

Pay Rate:

Over $100,000

HR. Website URL:

https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/employment.html

Security Clearance:

None

Travel Requirements:

None

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About U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and began operations in 1975. NRC’s mission is to license and regulate the Nation’s civilian use of radioactive materials to provide reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety and to promote the common defense and security and to protect the environment. In carrying out its mission it exercises the following vision: Demonstrate the Principles of Good Regulation (independence, openness, efficiency, clarity, and reliability) in performing our mission. NRC’s scope of responsibility includes: the regulation of commercial nuclear power plants, research and test reactors, nuclear fuel cycle facilities, medical, academic, and industrial uses of radioactive materials; the decommissioning of these facilities and sites; and, the transport, storage, and disposal of radioactive materials and wastes. NRC issues licenses for civilian uses of radioactive materials, oversees the licensees, and certifies standard nuclear reactor designs and spent fuel storage casks and transportation packages. It also licenses the import and export of radioactive materials; participates in international nuclear activities, including multilateral and bilateral safety and security activities; and works closely with its international counterparts to enhance nuclear safety and security worldwide. To accomplish its overall mission NRC has identified two Strategic Goals—To ensure the safe and secure use of radioactive materials. We need a wide variety of administrative and technical staff to accomplish our objectives. We hire engineers, scientists, security specialists, information technology professionals, financial analysts, and a range of other occupations. We’re constantly looking for outstanding individuals at all levels – recent grads, mid-career professionals, and senior leaders.

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