Description

TITLE: Probabilistic Risk Assessment Engineer

LOCATION: Bellevue, WA

TerraPower® is a nuclear energy technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At our core, we are working to raise living standards globally. The essential factor? Energy. In 2006, Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries decided that the private sector needed to take action. They believed that business interests could develop a scalable, sustainable, low-carbon and cost-competitive energy source that would allow all nations to quicken their pace of economic development and reduce poverty. TerraPower's goal is to provide the world with a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy.

TerraPower, LLC was established to bring together the strengths and experience of the world's public and private nuclear energy sectors to develop a new generation of nuclear reactors that would responsibly meet growing energy needs around the globe. Its approach addresses the traditional shortcomings of nuclear power, in terms of safety, cost effectiveness, environmental soundness, and resistance to weapons proliferation.

TerraPower is seeking to hire highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape. We are an equal opportunity employer.

Probabilistic Risk Assessment Engineer

TerraPower, LLC. is seeking a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) Engineer to support the development of the Natrium Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) Program. The PRA Engineer will work with the Risk Assessment team and is responsible for performing PRA and severe accident analysis for the Natrium reactor design. The PRA Engineer is primarily responsible for internal and external events PRA to be performed in coordination with transient and consequence safety analysis and other engineering disciplines to design a reliable and safe plant. Additionally, the PRA Engineer will use developed PRA models to provide risk information such as importance measures and changes in risk metrics to inform design and licensing decisions. Other engineering activities include, but are not limited to, contributing to the development of computational methodologies and models, participating in hazard analysis, participating in Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) exercises, and participating to Structures, Systems, and Components (SSC) classification, Licensing Basis Events (LBE) selection, and Defense-in-Depth (DID) Evaluations. The PRA Engineer will be interacting with other groups via interviews, emails, meetings, and other avenues to develop the risk models and the position requires sound written and verbal communication skills.

This position requires an understanding of PRA principles and preferably familiarity with the ASME/ANS Non-LWR PRA standard. While this position requires knowledge of sodium fast reactor technology, this knowledge can be obtained on the job through various in-house training workshops and interaction with TerraPower staff. This position requires relocation to Bellevue WA.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the PRA work performed inside and outside of TerraPower in coordination with plant design, transient and consequence safety analysis, and other disciplines.

• Ensure that the PRA is appropriate and used for the reactor design and within regulatory requirements, guidance, and standards such as risk-informed performance-based technology guidance for Non-Light Water Reactors (NEI 18-04) and ASME/ANS Non-Light Water PRA standard.

• Participate in the development of planning and scheduling for PRA related activities.

• Provide technical guidance to engineers and managers on reliability and various PRA-related topics.

• Participate in PRA peer reviews.

• Work on the development of event and fault trees, in-vessel radiological transport models, containment transport models, and mechanistic radiological release categories for PRA models.

• Work with an interdisciplinary team of engineers to establish core and reactor SSC functional, reliability, performance, safety, and quality requirements as well as support the overall design.

• Establish and maintain documentation of model development and analysis results.

• Perform engineering reviews of analyses and other engineering design media.

• Develop fault trees and event trees to reflect most up to date design using CAFTA.

• Group similar source terms for assignment to event sequence end states.

• Perform risk integration using the PRA model to report risk metrics and importance measures.

• Perform focused PRA analysis to support trade studies.

• Perform hand calculations using first principles to assess and validate more complex models for system performance, containment performance, and radiological consequences.

• Prepare topical reports describing PRA methods and analytical results for customers and regulators.

• Deliver presentations for internal management and external customers and regulators.

Key Qualifications and Skills

• M.S. or Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, or other relevant engineering fields, with at least 10+ years of experience in PRA in the nuclear industry.

• Knowledge and experience on External Events PRA are preferred.

• Experience directly interacting with the US NRC on PRA and LMP applications is required.

• Knowledge of PRA principles and the ASME/ANS Non-Light Water PRA standard is required.

• Familiarity with nuclear design, regulatory requirements, and risk-informed performance-based technology guidance for Non-Light Water Reactors under Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.233 is required.

• Knowledge of PRA fundamentals in data, human reliability, accident analysis, severe accidents, and source terms assessments is required.

• Significant experience with PRA software CAFTA, FRANX, HRA Calculator is preferred. Experience on other PRA software such as SAPHIRE, Risk Spectrum, or other similar software is still considered valuable.

• Experience with performing assessments using codes such as GOTHIC, MELCOR, RADTRAD, or similar tools is a plus.

• Demonstrated strong quantitative, analytical, modeling, and reporting skills.

• Understanding of Appendix B to 10 CFR 50 and ASME NQA-1 requirements associated with analysis and software management, as well as experience working under a quality assurance program is preferred.

• Experience in working in multi-disciplinary engineering teams to address engineering challenges is required.

• Experience with sodium cooled fast reactors is preferred.

• A broad understanding of the various engineering disciplines and how they interrelate in the design of a Nuclear Power Plant is required.

• High degree of trust, integrity, open communication, respect for others, and teamwork.

TerraPower's technology is controlled for export by various agencies of the U.S. Government. TerraPower must evaluate applicants who are foreign nationals (other than asylees, refugees, or lawful permanent residents) in accordance with U.S. Government export control requirements. To facilitate TerraPower's export control reviews, you will be asked as part of the application process to identify whether you are a U.S. Citizen or national, asylee, refugee, or lawful permanent resident of the United States. Government export authorization approval times vary. Based on the business needs for a particular position, TerraPower may not consider a foreign national from a country if it is impracticable to obtain timely Government export approval.

Job details

Salary Range Level 11: $138,6857 - $208,027

Salary Range Level 12: $169,922 - $235,464

Any salary offered within the posted salary band is based on market data and commensurate with the selected individual's qualifications and experience. This range is specific to Washington State.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation

• Salary, eligible to participate in discretionary short-term incentive payments

• Comprehensive Medical and Wellness Benefits

• Medical

• Vision

• Dental

• Life

• Life and Disability

• Gender Affirmation Benefits

• Parental Leave

• 401k Plan

• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO)

• 21 days of annually accrued PTO

• Generous Holiday Schedule

• 10 paid holidays

• Relocation Assistance

• Professional and Educational Support Opportunities

• Flexible Work Schedule

TerraPower Career and Benefits information: https://www.terrapower.com/contact-us/careers/

Please visit www.terrapower.com to apply

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