Associate R&D Staff Member - Thermal Hydraulics, Modeling and Simulation

Requisition Id 13386 

Overview:
At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we have a unique opportunity for a highly motivated R&D Associate Staff Member to join our Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycle Division. With a legacy of 80 years in nuclear energy innovation, we are dedicated to translating groundbreaking scientific discoveries into practical nuclear technologies. Our focus is on developing and showcasing innovative nuclear fuels, power systems, and supporting technologies to ensure the efficient, safe, and secure utilization of nuclear energy for now and the future.

Main Duties / Responsibilities:
 

As an R&D Associate Staff Member, you will have the following main duties and responsibilities:

• Develop single and multi-phase thermal hydraulic models for steady state and transient analyses in both conventional light water reactors and advanced next-generation designs.

• Create and apply HPC-enabled intermediate fidelity subchannel-resolved thermal hydraulic and fuel performance simulation tools.

• Develop and apply dynamic system simulation tools for nuclear system design, analysis, and optimization.

• Optimize system and component designs for performance and safety.

• Complete thorough verification, validation, uncertainty quantification, and documentation of analysis results.

• Serve as a Principal Investigator for single investigator and small team projects, pursuing innovations in multi-scale thermal-hydraulics and CFD research to reduce barriers to deploying new nuclear energy technologies.

• Report R&D activities appropriately through journal publications, technical presentations, and reports in a timely and ethical manner.

Basic Qualifications:
 

To be considered for this role, you must meet the following basic qualifications:

• Ph.D. in nuclear, mechanical, or chemical engineering or related field.

• At least two years of post-graduate experience in nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics, CFD, and safety analysis.

Preferred Qualifications:
 

The preferred qualifications for this position include:

• Demonstrated proficiency in applying and developing engineering models of nuclear reactor systems for performance and/or safety analysis.

• Strong fundamental understanding of single and multiphase turbulent fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer phenomena.

• Experience in closure model development, model validation, software implementation, and software quality assurance for subchannel method codes.

• Experience with application and extension of standard subchannel thermal hydraulics codes (COBRA, VIPRE, etc.) or with the highly-parallelized sub-channel resolution core simulator CTF.

• Experience with application and extension of the analysis capabilities of industry-standard system thermal hydraulics codes (RELAP, TRACE, TRAC, MELCOR, SAS4A/SASSYS-1, etc.) or with the TRANSFORM dynamic system simulation libraries.

• Experience working in commercial system dynamics simulation tools (Dymola, AMESIM, etc.) and development in the MODELICA language.

• Experience with CFD workflows for simulation of complex flow and heat transfer fields in challenging real-world geometries; familiarity with commercial CFD environments such as STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Workbench, or COMSOL Multiphysics.

• Effectively solve problems and an eagerness to apply these problem-solving skills to various engineering challenges.

• Excellent communication skills (verbal, presentation, and written) to enable effective interaction with technical peers, program managers, and sponsors.

About ORNL:
As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. We have a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,000 people! Our vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is to cultivate an environment and practices that foster diversity in ideas and in the people across the organization, as well as to ensure ORNL is recognized as a workplace of choice. These elements are critical for enabling the execution of ORNL’s broader mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and their translation into energy, environment, and security solutions for the nation.

ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs to attract and retain individuals who demonstrate exceptional work behaviors. The laboratory provides a range of employee benefits, including medical and retirement plans and flexible work hours, to support the well-being of you and your family. Employee amenities such as on-site fitness, banking, and cafeteria facilities are also available for added convenience.

Other benefits include the following: Prescription Drug Plan, Dental Plan, Vision Plan, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Contributory Pension Plan, Life Insurance, Disability Benefits, Generous Vacation and Holidays, Parental Leave, Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Wellness Programs, Educational Assistance, Relocation Assistance, and Employee Discounts.

If you have difficulty using the online application system or need an accommodation to apply due to a disability, please email: ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov or call 1.866.963.9545.

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply.  UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.