Principal Reactor Fuel Engineer

Location: Oak Ridge, TN — relocation available. NANO Nuclear Energy is seeking a Principal Reactor Fuel Engineer to establish the statistical and uncertainty‑quantification framework supporting qualification of the ceramic matrix TRISO fuel architecture for the KRONOS High‑Temperature Gas‑Cooled Reactor (HTGR). The role reports to the Reactor Fuel Design Manager and provides independent statistical concurrence on qualification‑critical decisions across fuel design, manufacturing, characterization, irradiation, post‑irradiation examination, safety analysis, fuel‑performance modeling, Quality Assurance, and Regulatory & Licensing.

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

• Own the statistical strategy supporting qualification of an advanced TRISO fuel architecture.
• Influence decisions spanning fuel development, manufacturing, testing, modeling, safety, and licensing.
• Establish statistical approaches before data collection, rather than simply analyzing completed datasets.
• Apply advanced methods to challenging sparse, censored, zero‑failure, and heterogeneous datasets.
• Provide independent technical concurrence on qualification and regulator‑facing conclusions.
• Build technical leadership while collaborating across a multidisciplinary reactor development organization.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the KRONOS Fuel Qualification Statistics and Uncertainty Quantification Plan, including confidence requirements, acceptance probabilities, decision rules, and concurrence points.
• Establish defensible sample sizes and population definitions for kernels, TRISO particles, ceramic pellets, manufacturing lots, irradiation specimens, PIE populations, and safety‑test specimens.
• Develop methods for estimating defect, particle‑failure, fuel‑failure, and fission‑product‑release fractions, including zero‑failure and censored datasets.
• Establish uncertainty budgets covering characterization, irradiation conditions, PIE measurements, material properties, safety testing, and derived qualification parameters.
• Define statistical requirements for model calibration and validation, bias evaluation, sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation, applicability limits, and experimental comparison.
• Develop design‑of‑experiments, process‑capability, variability, sampling, and acceptance methods supporting repeatable production‑intent fuel.
• Evaluate data exclusions, outliers, missing data, anomalous observations, and extrapolations.
• Author clear statistical conclusions and uncertainty statements supporting fuel qualification and licensing documentation.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Reliability Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Materials Science, or a closely related quantitative discipline.
• 5+ years supporting nuclear fuel, materials qualification, reliability, manufacturing qualification, model validation, or another safety‑critical technical program.
• Expertise in design of experiments, acceptance sampling, uncertainty propagation, reliability methods, statistical inference, and model calibration or validation.
• Experience developing statistical approaches before data collection and working with sparse, censored, zero‑failure, or heterogeneous datasets.
• Proficiency with controlled statistical‑computing workflows and rigorous documentation of calculations, software, data transformations, assumptions, and independent reviews.
• Strong technical writing and communication skills, including the ability to translate statistical limitations into clear engineering, safety, and regulatory conclusions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with TRISO, advanced nuclear fuel, or high‑temperature ceramic qualification.
• Experience estimating low‑probability defect or failure fractions at regulator‑relevant confidence levels.
• Familiarity with ASME NQA‑1, nuclear software QA, configuration control, and regulator‑facing technical reports.
• Experience integrating manufacturing process capability, experimental uncertainty, and model‑form uncertainty into qualification decisions.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance with company contributions
• 401(k) with 5% company match
• Unlimited PTO
• Company holidays and paid parental leave
• Mentorship, professional growth, and technical leadership opportunities
• Collaborative engineering environment focused on innovation and technical excellence

Compensation

• E4 – Senior Engineer II: $135,000 – $185,000
• E5 – Principal Engineer I: $160,000 – $215,000
• E6 – Principal Engineer II: $185,000 – $255,000