Safety Analysis Methods Engineer

At BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BWXT), we are People Strong, Innovation Driven. Headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., BWXT provides safe and effective nuclear solutions for national security, clean energy, environmental remediation, nuclear medicine and space exploration. With approximately 6,400 employees, BWXT has 12 major operating sites in the U.S. and Canada. We are the sole manufacturer of naval nuclear reactors for U.S. submarines and aircraft carriers. Our company supplies precision manufactured components, services and fuel for the commercial nuclear power industry across four continents. Our joint ventures provide environmental remediation and nuclear operations management at more than a dozen U.S. Department of Energy and NASA facilities. BWXT’s technology is driving advances in medical radioisotope production in North America and microreactors for various defense and space applications. Follow us on Twitter at @BWXTech and learn more at www.bwxt.com.

BWXT is currently seeking a Safety Analysis Methods Engineer for its Advanced Technologies location in Lynchburg, VA!

BWXT is People Strong, Innovation Driven - be part of BWXT’s innovation hub. BWXT’s Advanced Technologies (AT) group researches, designs, and develops innovative new nuclear reactors, nuclear rocket propulsion systems, and radioisotope production systems for both internal and external customers.

The Safety Analysis Methods (SAM) Engineer is responsible for the development and application of nuclear safety analysis methodologies for reactor designs under development at BWXT Advanced Technologies. The principal activities of a SAM Engineer involve the preparation, documentation and review of nuclear-thermal-hydraulic and radiological analyses of advanced nuclear power systems under development at BWXT AT. The successful applicant will be part of the Safety Analysis and Methods (SA&M) Team located in Lynchburg, VA.

Engineering activities performed by SA&M are often subject to regulatory requirements promulgated by either the U.S. NRC or DOE. As such, accompanying reactor system analyses are technical basis documents that collectively describe an evaluation model. In addition, SA&M activities involve many aspects of reactor performance that include a wide range of physical phenomena and reactor performance characteristics. These activities provide opportunities to be involved in many different aspects of reactor analysis including thermal hydraulics, reactor modeling, heat transfer, transient kinetics, two-phase flow, reactor protection system characteristics, emergency core cooling systems, pump/turbomachinery performance characteristics, plant control system functions and radiological consequences. Associated with the development of evaluation methodologies for this application is quality assurance of the software applied in analysis.

If you are looking for a career where your experience is valued, innovative thinking is fostered, and barrier-free teamwork is embraced every day, then this opportunity is for you. The position will be located in Lynchburg, VA. Relocation benefits are available for this position.

Job Description / Duties:

• Coordinate the work of a safety analysis team, provide overall direction, and coordinate with other teams within a project.
• Provide planning input and tracking, work estimates, and updates.
• Present safety results to customers, regulators, and subject matter experts that may be advising a project.
• Perform hazards, safety basis event identification, and phenomena identification and ranking table analyses.
• Develop safety analysis computational models in accordance with best practices and test data.
• Perform sensitivity, uncertainty, and scaling analysis in support of evaluation model development.
• Perform code benchmarking and validation analyses to support code qualification and methodology development.
• Prepare reports for NRC or DOE review and approval.
• Integrate with other engineering groups performing aspects of component, system, fuel, and control system design.
• Evaluate and assess experimental data and describe the applicability of experiments to design projects.

Job Qualifications / Requirements:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Nuclear or similar discipline) is required.
• A minimum of seven (7) years of relevant work experience is required.
• Must have strong nuclear-thermal-hydraulic analytical skills.
• Demonstrated technical writing skills are required.
• Must possess effective communication skills.
• Experience in leading technical teams is required.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) or Department of Defense (DOD) security clearance, whichever is required.

Additional Desired Skillsets:

• M.S. or PhD in Nuclear or Mechanical Engineering.
• Experience with performing safety analysis using RELAP5, GOTHIC, TRACE, MAAP or similar codes.
• Experience with developing and applying numerical methods for nuclear thermal-hydraulic problems.
• Experience with developing complex safety analysis models from scratch.
• Published work in the public domain.
• Experience working in a nuclear quality environment (e.g., ASME NQA-1).
• Familiarity with preparing and defending Safety Analysis Reports (SARs) with NRC or DOE.

As a federal government contractor, BWX Technologies, Inc. and any subsidiaries, affiliates and related entities (“BWXT” or the “Company”) complies with all federal, state, and local laws and customer requirements regarding COVID-19 and other health and safety protocols.  As such, all BWXT new hires will be required to adhere to applicable Company COVID-19 requirements within the workplace as a condition of employment.

Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or matter. Position requires U.S. citizenship with (no dual citizenship) ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance which involves an extensive criminal and financial background investigation, drug test and previous employment reference verifications.

BWXT supports diversity and is committed to the concept of Equal Employment Opportunity. We have established procedures to ensure that all personnel actions such as recruitment, compensation, career development, benefits, company-sponsored training and social recreational programs are administered without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or veteran status.

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