Chemistry and AI Modeller

Summary

Job Description for Chemistry and AI Modeller:

This is where your skills play a critical role in keeping everyone safe. Working in Safety, Security & Safeguards gives you the chance to make your mark on some hugely interesting projects. UKNNL does work that nobody else in the sector is doing, and this means we need experts like you to make it possible, whilst keeping everyone safe. We’re committed to using nuclear science to benefit society for years to come.

This means that you can build a long and successful career here whilst playing a meaningful role in delivering cleaner energy, reducing waste and keeping colleagues and the public out of harm’s way.

UKNNL has the purpose of “nuclear science to benefit society” which is supported by four focus areas:
Clean Energy;
Environmental Restoration;
Health and Nuclear Medicine;
Security and Safeguards. The Chemical Modelling team (CM) use computational modelling to address challenges within those focus areas, aligned to our purpose.

Within the focus area of Clean Energy, Environmental Restoration and Security and Non-proliferation we work across several areas including fuel performance for advanced nuclear reactors (advanced modular reactors) and other areas including heat applications from nuclear systems. Projects include work to develop flow sheets for synthesis of hydrogen utilising nuclear energy and projects understanding the behaviour of nuclear fuel under irradiation. Within the focus area of Environmental Restoration, we use process models to support the decommissioning of legacy nuclear facilities, for example by supporting plants and technologies that store radioactive waste, treat wastewater, and immobilise waste, thus minimising its environmental impact.

We develop chemical models to underpin these flow sheets for chemical plants supporting the clean up and decommissioning of Sellafield site.

Our capability is based on our ability to model chemistry across different length and time-scales (multi-scale modelling). Core capabilities include Density Functional Theory, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, thermodynamic modelling (Calphad and aqueous methods for modelling solubility and speciation, such as those in PHREEQC) and rate theory modelling. Increasingly, AI is an important capability, and knowledge and practical experience of AI & Machine Learning is essential.

The chemical modelling team consists of a combination of scientists and engineers at PhD level. We are a small vibrant team, the majority of whom are early in their nuclear energy career. In joining our team, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work on a wide range of industrially relevant problems.

For this vacancy we require a candidate with molecular dynamics expertise to take on several current and future projects in this area, however the role is adaptable, with further opportunities to develop new skills in support of UKNNL’s mission. Applications include nuclear fuel and structural materials modelling, waste modelling, physical property predictions. The candidate will have the opportunity to develop their own niche in this area and expand into supporting different areas of the business.

Collaboration with research organisations on projects is increasingly important to UKNNL, and experience of developing and delivery of UKRI funded research projects is highly desirable.

• Identify opportunities working with commercial functions and customers and prepare scopes of work under direction of a technical lead.
• Develop partnerships with academia and industry to develop opportunities for UKRI funding.
• Develop expertise in their field supporting UKNNL in the delivery of its mission against focus areas including clean energy and environmental restoration.
• Deliver work to customers against a pre-defined schedule, agreed budget and to a high level of technical quality.
• Report progress to team and project managers, flagging up issues and opportunities that arise when delivering the work.
• Develop and maintain models including bespoke coding in scientific programming languages as required.
• Carry out computer simulations as…