Criticality Safety Analyst

What You Will Do

Working as a Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) Analyst under the LANL NCS Program you will provide technical guidance to determine that fissionable material operations remain subcritical under normal and credible abnormal conditions. This is the job for you if you are interested in supporting a key national security mission by interfacing with customers in nuclear facilities, performing technical analyses, proposing logical arguments, and recommending NCS controls.

This position will be filled at either the Criticality Safety Analyst 1 or 2 level, depending on the skills of the selected candidate. Additional job responsibilities (outlined below) will be assigned if the candidate is hired at the higher level.

Working as a Nuclear Criticality Safety (NCS) Analyst under the LANL NCS Program you will provide technical guidance to determine that fissionable material operations remain subcritical under normal and credible abnormal conditions. You will be assisting the operating organization personnel and qualified criticality safety analysts in criticality safety evaluations for new or proposed changes to existing fissionable material operations. In addition, you will be assisting in the preparation and presentation of NCS technical reports both internal to LANL and external to the criticality safety community (e.g., American Nuclear Society).

In addition to what was outlined at the lower level, at this level you provide technical guidance on the implementation of the LANL NCS Program and collaborate with operating organization personnel to document criticality safety evaluations for new or proposed changes to existing fissionable material operations. You will have the opportunity to conduct periodic reviews of fissionable material operations, lead and/or participate in NCS response to programmatic issues and criticality process deviations/infractions, and participate in NCS emergency response.

Additionally, you will independently prepare and present NCS technical reports both internally to LANL and externally to the criticality safety community (e.g., American Nuclear Society), and conduct NCS training for all levels of employees involved in fissionable material operations.

• Basic knowledge of and experience with nuclear physics
• Basic knowledge of and experience with criticality safety analysis tools such as SCALE/MCNP
• Demonstrated technical writing skills and good oral communication skills

• Prior criticality safety or related experience
• Knowledge in the discipline of NCS, including NCS evaluations, program implementation, computation tools, standards, and regulatory guidelines
• Knowledge on the meaning and use of the ANSI/ANS 8 Series National Standards and applicable DOE Orders, Standards, and Guides
• Knowledge on the use of the computer codes and nuclear data used for modeling and NCS analysis
• Demonstrated ability to conduct NCS evaluations on a variety of fissile/fissionable material forms
• Demonstrated experience in conducting research, investigating alternative solutions, and recommending solutions on problems affecting NCS
• Ability to conceptualize and communicate major elements of NCS to both technical and non‑technical personnel

Position requires a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Physics, or related discipline from an accredited institution and 2 years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.

Position requires a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Physics, or related discipline from an accredited institution and 4 years of related experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience directly related to the occupation.

Q clearance required. Selected applicants will undergo a background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified matters. Q clearance generally requires U.S. citizenship.

Los Alamos, New Mexico.…