Criticality Safety Officer

Responsibilities

• Criticality Safety Program Ownership
• Develop, implement, and maintain the nuclear criticality safety program
• Establish criticality safety policies, procedures, and controls aligned with regulatory and industry standards
• Ensure integration of criticality safety requirements into operations, engineering, and facility design
• Maintain documentation, evaluations, and program records in an audit-ready state
• Technical Authority & Analysis
• Perform and review criticality safety evaluations (CSEs) for processes involving fissile materials
• Define safe operating limits, controls, and administrative requirements
• Evaluate changes to processes, equipment, or materials for criticality safety impact
• Provide technical guidance on geometry control, moderation control, mass limits, and spacing requirements
• Operational Oversight
• Support and monitor operations involving fissile material handling, processing, and storage
• Ensure criticality safety controls are properly implemented and maintained in the field
• Provide oversight for new process startup, modifications, and abnormal conditions
• Participate in work planning and hazard analysis for activities involving nuclear materials
• Compliance & Regulatory Interface
• Ensure compliance with applicable DOE, NRC, and ANSI/ANS criticality safety standards
• Support internal and external audits, assessments, and regulatory inspections
• Interface with regulatory bodies and provide technical support during reviews and inquiries
• Maintain readiness for inspections and demonstrate program effectiveness
• Training & Culture
• Develop and support criticality safety training programs for operations and technical personnel
• Ensure personnel understand and adhere to criticality safety requirements
• Promote a strong nuclear safety culture with emphasis on conservative decision-making
• Incident Prevention & Response
• Support investigation of criticality safety events, near misses, or deviations
• Perform root cause analysis and implement corrective actions
• Ensure lessons learned are incorporated into procedures and training

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering or a related field (Master’s or PhD preferred)
• 7+ years of experience in nuclear criticality safety or related nuclear safety roles
• Demonstrated experience performing criticality safety evaluations and analyses
• Strong understanding of criticality safety principles and controls (mass, geometry, moderation, interaction)
• Familiarity with applicable standards (ANSI/ANS-8 series, DOE/NRC guidance)
• Experience working in fuel fabrication, nuclear materials processing, or similar environments
• Strong technical judgment and ability to make conservative safety decisions
• Ability to work closely with operations, engineering, and regulatory stakeholders
• Experience supporting audits and regulatory interactions