Nuclear Fuel Development Engineer

Job Description

Idaho National Laboratory is hiring a Nuclear Fuel Development Engineer to work in the Advanced Fuel Manufacturing and Development department. The team works a 4x10 schedule located out of the Materials and Fuels Complex with every Friday off. INL is recognized as the lead national laboratory for DOE-NE, providing much of the nuclear research, development, and demonstration capability needed to move nuclear innovation forward to deployment.

The Materials and Fuels Complex offers the ability to perform research and development of nuclear fuels from design, development, fabrication through post‑irradiation analysis. The role involves a broad spectrum of activities in nuclear fuels and materials research, development and demonstration. Responsibilities include concept development, process qualification, characterization to design and assembly of irradiation experiments. The engineer will act as a principal investigator, oversee peer reviews, generate scholarly outputs, and seek new research opportunities to advance INL's mission nationally and internationally.

• Support and/or conduct research, development, and analysis with nuclear fuels and materials within one or more of the following technical areas: characterization, fabrication, sample preparation, instrument development, process development, and irradiation experiment design and assembly.
• Responsible for activities from the procurement of feedstock, coordination of material movements, adherence to stringent quality and safety standards, and overseeing the fuel or experiment being inserted into the reactor.
• Develop and use processes to fabricate a wide range of advanced nuclear fuels and nuclear fuels and materials experiments encompassing the full development lifecycle: process design, procurement, synthesis, production, post‑processing, characterization, and novel development work.
• Follow through on basic project needs, including submission of input towards establishment of these needs, and subsequently acting on these requirements to develop and execute activities and processes resulting in high‑quality deliverables.
• Document activities, coordinate material movements, and establish multi‑facility process paths, ensuring quality standards are satisfied and adherence to safety protocols.
• Serve as a principal investigator. Establish research plans, conduct research, interpret data, and provide technical leadership.
• Conduct peer reviews, and drive generation of reports, publications, proposals, and intellectual property.
• Actively seek new research opportunities, generate proposals, secure funding, and represent INL to sponsors and peers in national and international forums.

• Level 3:
  Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or other related technical engineering degree from an ABET‑accredited institution and 5 years experience;
  Master’s and 2 years of experience;
  PhD and 2 years of experience.
• Level 4:
  Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or other related technical engineering degree from an ABET‑accredited institution and 9 years experience;
  Master’s and 6 years of experience;
  PhD and 4 years of experience.
• Must have a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental science, theories and application needs such that the invoked approaches constitute technical best practices.
• Must have a sound knowledge of other related science or technical disciplines with the ability to effectively implement this knowledge to support successful execution of assigned work and the development of new work.
• Must have effective collaboration and communication skills to organize cross‑functional teams to meet project requirements.

• Experience in the design and manufacturing of nuclear fuels, especially advanced nuclear fuels.
• Proficiency in laboratory and industrial operating environments, including experience with a variety of laboratory and manufacturing equipment.
• Exceptional demonstrated success in written communications and presentations on complex, technical topics to a wide…