Criticality Safety Assessor

Criticality Safety Assessor – Nuclear Physics

Location:

RG7 4PR
, located between Reading and Basingstoke, with free onsite parking. Due to the classified nature of the work involved, there are limited opportunities to work from home in this role. It is anticipated that the successful candidate will spend the majority of their time working on site at AWE Aldermaston.

Package: £3,000 – £37,000 per annum plus role related allowance(s) (depending on your suitability, qualifications, and level of experience). Working pattern: AWE operates a 9-day working fortnight. Flexible working requests will be considered so that your work may fit in with your lifestyle. Please indicate your preferred pattern on your application.

Ready to play your part? At AWE, it’s not just a job; it’s a contribution to keeping the nation safe. Join AWE in the UK’s largest Criticality Safety Group to support safe nuclear operations in defence of the nation and develop your nuclear career.

We are expanding our Criticality Safety Group and are seeking committed, talented people who want to work in the field of nuclear criticality science and safety. We welcome applications to join our dynamic team as Criticality Safety Assessors from people with diverse skillsets and backgrounds at any stage of their career. Our goal is to grow an internationally recognised, highly capable, friendly, and supportive group to meet the increasing demands of a challenging programme of work in support of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

As AWE’s Criticality Safety Group, we provide an in-house criticality safety assessment capability in support of delivering the company’s strategic objectives. This involves delivering criticality safety assessments during the design, operation, and decommissioning phases of nuclear facilities, which form part of our nuclear safety documentation that satisfies Nuclear Site Licence Conditions.

The Criticality Safety Assessor role is multidisciplinary and combines a strong technical understanding of nuclear physics with the ability to write safety assessments. It involves interaction with many other professional disciplines.

A Criticality Safety Assessor applies nuclear physics knowledge, uses nuclear data to solve complex problems, uses Monte Carlo computer codes, and undertakes Hazard Identification and fault analysis to determine how a criticality could occur.

• Deliver criticality safety assessments to facilities in line with programme demand and internal procedures.
• Maintain and promote high personal standards in environment, safety, health, security and quality, in-line with core behaviours.
• Engage and collaborate with stakeholders from technology centres, operations, project management, engineers, and conventional safety case teams.
• Directly support work with nuclear material through criticality safety assessment in a nuclear baseline role.

Training and development are provided to learn the skills required to become a competent Criticality Safety Assessor. This involves a mixture of training exercises, on-the-job training, and visits to nuclear facilities on site.

• Delivering criticality safety training courses to workers on site.
• Undertaking facility inspections to appraise operational performance against criticality safety good practice.
• Regular knowledge transfer activities and continuous professional development opportunities.
• Opportunities to specialise in support for specific technology centres.

We do need you to have the following:

• Honours Degree (or equivalent) in science, mathematics, engineering or a closely related discipline or equivalent level of work experience.
• Ability to communicate technical problems clearly and concisely to stakeholders with technical or non-technical backgrounds.

• Understanding of nuclear physics, physics of criticality, mathematics, statistics, chemistry and metallurgy of fissile material.
• Good engineering and scientific judgement with fundamental engineering and scientific skills.
• Knowledge of particle transport codes - Monte Carlo and deterministic methods (e.g., MONK and/or MCNP).
• Understanding…