[Hiring] Fuels Engineer @NuScale Power, LLC

Role Description

The Fuels Engineer 4 is a senior technical contributor within the Nuclear Methods group of the Nuclear Fuels department. The position reports to the Manager, Nuclear Methods and plays a critical role at the intersection of fuel performance analysis, neutronics, transient analysis, and multi‑physics method development. This engineer is a recognized technical authority in fuel thermal‑mechanical (TM) analysis and contributes substantively to the development, qualification, and deployment of advanced methods used for designing and analyzing next‑generation light‑water reactor fuel and supporting reload safety analysis. This role requires deep subject‑matter expertise, strong engineering judgment, and the ability to collaborate across Thermal‑Hydraulics, Nuclear Design, Code Development, Engineering, and Operations functions. The Fuels Engineer 4 contributes to strategic technical direction, licensing basis development, and consistent, high‑quality analysis outputs that underpin the safety and performance of the NuScale reactor design.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Serve as a primary technical authority for fuel TM analysis methods, including gap conductance, cladding strain, fatigue, creep collapse, pellet‑cladding interaction, and performance margins.
• Exercise in-depth knowledge of industry best-practices and state-of-the-art advancements to drive development, qualification, and application of next‑generation fuel performance modeling approaches.
• Evaluate and incorporate relevant industry advancements, benchmark data, and vendor methodologies into NuScale’s TM framework.
• Support development of interfacing methods such as neutronics, subchannel analysis, and system thermal-hydraulics.
• Perform safety analysis calculations using industry-standard and advanced fuel thermal-mechanical simulation tools.
• Independently evaluate limits and margins for normal operation and DBEs where fuel performance plays a role.
• Lead planning and execution of software benchmarking, qualification, and QA documentation.
• Integrate fuel thermal-mechanical methods with other multi-physics modeling and methods development for comprehensive advanced fuels engineering methods.
• Apply knowledge of next generation LWR fuel designs, modeling strategies, and analysis methods to support product and service strategy development.
• Work collaboratively within the Nuclear Fuels organization to ensure fuel‑related inputs and outputs are integrated correctly across methodologies.
• Coordinate interface definition and change control for TM inputs/outputs, shared models, and cross‑discipline analysis frameworks.
• Provide technical leadership within Nuclear Methods; mentor junior engineers and lead complex analysis tasks in areas of expertise.
• Contribute to technical development of licensing technical or topical reports, license applications, and other licensing documentation.
• Participate in licensing interactions including interface with the government regulator in areas of technical responsibility.
• Prepare and verify engineering reports, calculations, studies, system descriptions, requirement specifications, and other design documents with particular emphasis on fuel performance and neutronics.
• Develop innovative solutions to multifaceted technical challenges requiring original thinking, multi‑physics reasoning, and the ability to navigate uncertainty.
• Independently frame problems, propose solution strategies, and execute analyses with minimal oversight.
• Perform other duties as assigned. Flexibly support changing organizational priorities, including urgent analysis needs, cross‑functional reviews, technical troubleshooting, or special studies.

Core Competencies

• Problem solving: Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner, gathers and reviews information appropriately.
• Oral/written communication: Listens carefully and speaks clearly and professionally in all situations.
• Planning/organizing: Prioritizes and plans work activities, organizes personal and project timelines and deadlines.
• Adaptability: Adapts to changes in the work environment, manages competing demands.
• Dependability: Consistently on time and at work, responds to management expectations.
• Team Building: Capable of developing strong interpersonal networks and trust within the organization.
• Safety Culture: Adheres to the NuScale Safety culture and is expected to model safe behavior.
• Quality Assurance: Commits to the understanding and implementation of quality assurance regulations.

Qualifications

• A minimum of B.S. degree in Nuclear, Mechanical, Chemical Engineering (or related discipline) from a four-year accredited college or university is required.
• Advanced degree in Nuclear, Mechanical, or Chemical Engineering is desirable.

Requirements

• A minimum of 8 years of full-time, directly relevant engineering experience is required.
• Demonstrated experience in implementing engineering design processes for fuel thermal-mechanical analysis and fuel design is required.
• Additional experience with neutronics, transient analysis, and related safety analysis is preferred.
• Experience in core design and neutronics preferred.
• Eligible to work under Department of Energy 10 CFR Part 810.

Physical Demands

• Ability to understand and communicate clearly using a phone, personal interaction, and computers.
• Ability to learn new job functions and comprehend and understand new concepts quickly.
• The employee frequently is required to sit and stand; walk; bend, use hands to operate office equipment; and reach with hands and arms.
• Ability to travel nationally and locally using common forms of transportation.

Pay and Benefits

• The target pay range for this position is $127,104 - $153,401 annually.
• The full pay range is $113,955 - $178,237 annually.