Nuclear Mechanical Engineer

Nuclear Mechanical Engineer

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is seeking a Nuclear Mechanical Engineer with experience in the analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow in nuclear systems to provide support in the development of novel radioisotope production targets and enhanced tools for analysis. You will work with scientists, engineers, and technicians to develop thermal and fluid flow models for HFIR isotope production targets.

A successful candidate will be capable of leading efforts to achieve isotope production objectives, including HFIR target design, qualification, fabrication, irradiation, and post-irradiation chemical processing. The work is performed under exacting quality standards and in accordance with conduct of operations requirements for nuclear facilities, requiring strong technical judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to work efficiently under demanding schedules.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are essential, as success in this role depends on collaborating effectively across multidisciplinary teams and building productive working relationships with a diverse group of technical staff.

Supporting the largest radioisotope production and research portfolio within the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science for Isotope R&D and Production, as well as extensive isotope production programs for the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy and National Nuclear Safety Administration, this position will grant you the opportunity to work with rare nuclear materials, and the unique facilities at ORNL, including the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center (REDC), as you help guide the strategic growth of our isotope production enterprise.

This role includes developing and documenting analyses consistent with the type of thermal-hydraulic evaluation used for in-vessel nuclear experiments, including establishing bounding heat loads, coolant flow paths, thermal margins, and credible off-normal conditions; producing and reviewing calculation packages suitable for internal review and incorporation into facility safety/operability documentation.

Major duties/responsibilities include working as part of a multi-disciplinary team to develop appropriate models and computational strategies to assess HFIR Isotope Production target design, contributing to the design of radioisotope production targets to optimize coolant flow and thermal performance, developing and documenting integrated thermal-hydraulic evaluations for target/experiment hardware, producing and reviewing/independently checking safety basis calculations to rigorous quality standards documenting the performance of radioisotope production targets within HFIR, participating in post-irradiation examination activities necessary to validate computational models, developing capabilities for enhanced thermal analysis of radioisotope production targets, preparing peer-reviewed journal articles, reports, and presentations for sponsors and the technical community, and serving in professional societies and standards development committees.

Basic qualifications include a BS in Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or similar field, and a minimum of four years of related experience or an advanced degree with two years' experience. Work towards an advanced degree with relevant research may be applied towards this experience requirement. Moderate knowledge of thermal and mechanical performance of materials in nuclear systems, experience performing moderately complex thermal hydraulic calculations, and demonstrated experience with engineering modeling and simulation, including the use of COMSOL, ANSYS (Fluent, CFX, or Mechanical), STAR-CCM+, RELAP or other hydraulic system codes, and MATLAB or Python for data reduction, automation, and model development are required.

Preferred qualifications include thermal-structural knowledge and understanding how it relates to and intersects with thermal-hydraulic calculations, familiarity with developing/using flow test data (test planning, instrumentation, data reduction, uncertainty) to support hydraulic evaluations, experience in research and development with established publication record, demonstrated ability to organize and lead tasks and/or projects, excellent written and oral communication skills, motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and to participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory, ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines, and adapt to ever changing needs.