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Take on your biggest challenge yet: Internal Hazards inspector in ONR.

The challenge

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is an evolving public corporation. Essentially, we’re responsible for shaping and delivering regulation of nuclear safety, nuclear site health and safety, security, safeguards and transport of radioactive materials. As a Nuclear Safety Inspector specialising in Internal Hazards, you’ll have a vital role to play in our unique organisation: ensuring nuclear plant designs and operations adequately consider the whole range of potential internal hazards, and duty holders provide suitable measures to prevent them, and to protect plant against their effects.

The role

Working within our Nuclear Internal Hazards and Site Safety specialism, you’ll consider hazards (to plant or safety related structures) that originate within the site boundary and are due to initiating events over which the site operator has some form of control. Internal hazards include internal fire, flooding, explosions, dropped loads, pipe whip, jet impact, internal missiles, to name just a few. It’s an exceptional opportunity to gain a broad insight into the work of ONR, as you take part in multi-disciplinary assessments and interventions alongside experts from across ONR divisions and specialisms. Day to day, you’ll be engaging with Generic Design Assessment (GDA) requesting parties and licensees, assessing from Small Modular Reactor (SMR) designs, to nuclear reactors in construction and operation, and spent fuel and waste storage facilities. Literally, any type of nuclear installation. You will also be undertaking inspections and recommending regulatory action to ensure compliance with the law, giving sound advice to colleagues on how internal hazards can threaten nuclear safety, and on the adequacy of measures put in place to prevent radiological consequences.

The person  

Committed to public safety, you’ll want to ensure nuclear plants are resilient to hazards during their entire lifecycle. Effective judgement and decision-making skills are key, along with the ability to apply logical reasoning and understand strategic impacts. With your knowledge and experience in the analysis of fire and other internal hazards, together with safety cases and nuclear plant designs, you’ll bring professional and technical credibility, enabling you to influence and persuade dutyholders. In addition to this background, you’ll have a degree-level qualification in engineering, physical sciences, mathematics, or a related discipline, together with chartered membership of a relevant professional institution, or the ability to demonstrate performance and experience at an equivalent professional level. However, people skills are just as important, so you must be an excellent communicator who can collaborate with colleagues, and engage effectively with duty holders and other organisations, nationally and internationally.

The rewards

We offer competitive salaries at the ONR, with this role attracting a salary of £80,670 - £96,883 plus an additional £4,194 London Weighting Allowance if applicable. Furthermore, you’ll be eligible for a substantial Civil Service Pension scheme (including ill-health retirement and lump sum family benefits), and generous holiday entitlement.

About us

ONR is a Public Corporation with a mission to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations. Our staff are drawn from a wide range of professional backgrounds with specialist inspectors to deliver our core business including chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear physics, civil engineering, radiological protection and human factors. Together they’re involved in everything from assessing safety cases, inspecting nuclear sites and communicating our decisions, to training new recruits and representing the UK and ONR nationally and internationally.

Are you a self-motivated individual fascinated with the physics of nuclear criticality and using this knowledge to ensure safe power station operation?  Are you a team player with initiative, perspective, and good judgment? Do you have excellent communication skills? Above all, are you passionate about helping Britain achieve Net-Zero?

If so – we have a role for you!

The Opportunity…

We are currently looking to recruit a Reactor Physics (Criticality) Engineer to join our Fuel and Core Branch (F&CB) as part of the Nuclear Services Business.

We’re after an individual with a scientific or mathematical background who is motivated and eager to learn. The role will be primarily focussed on developing capability in Criticality Safety such that the individual can study, analyse and provide authoritative advice concerning nuclear aspects of fissile material handling and storage at UK nuclear power stations. This is a great opportunity to develop knowledge of nuclear fuel design and fuel route operation in an operationally supporting project environment. There are also many opportunities to diversify into other technical areas, in particular Reactor Physics, which involves analysing reactor neutronic and thermal-hydraulic behaviour to support activities to comply with the requirements of the Nuclear Site Licences.

As a Reactor Physics and Criticality Group member, you will report to the Reactor Physics and Criticality Group Leader and work closely with other Nuclear Services groups, EDF Licensee Groups and Power Stations.

Pay, benefits and culture…

We can offer a competitive salary of around £52,000 per annum based on your existing competence, experience, and qualifications.

At EDF, everyone is welcome. We strive to create an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone has a voice and where you feel confident being yourself.  We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.  We would like our future workforce to have an equal gender balance, represent a broad mix of people from minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+, those with a disability and supporting social mobility.  

We are a disability-confident employer and we will do all we can to help with your application, making adjustments as you need.

We will value the difference you bring and offer opportunities for you to thrive and succeed. 

What you’ll be doing?

As a Criticality Safety Engineer, you will primarily focus on supporting the Criticality Safety Case in the Nuclear Fuel Routes of all EDF reactors. Specifically, following relevant training, you will work as part of a team to:

• Perform Monte Carlo based calculations of the neutron transport equation using geometric models of the nuclear fuel under varying conditions and fault scenarios;
• Assess proposed fuel route operations to identify potential hazards and faults which may pose a criticality risk;
• Analyse faults to determine risk and identify appropriate safety measures to reduce the risk in line with the ALARP principle;
• Implement criticality safety cases to the required quality and process to become part of the station safety case;
• Review other proposed safety cases to examine the impact on criticality safety and provide advice as necessary;
• Provide advice to station in response to events on-site and evolving situations;
• Liaise with station staff and other technical areas to discuss training, operational experience, work requirements;
• Support the maintenance of the required codes (verification & validation, version control etc.) and manage tasks in a UNIX environment;
• Be able to clearly specify work for others, collaborate with supply chain partners and act as an Intelligent Customer for externally-produced work.
• Support the Group Leader in the management of strategy, risk, work planning, resource and budgets where appropriate.

Who you are:

Your background should include the following:

• A strong science or maths background.
• Eagerness to learn and develop.
• Self-motivation with initiative and good judgement to drive projects to timely completion.
• Team player with excellent written and verbal communication skills, organisational skills and a very strong analytical capability.

This opportunity would also suit a graduate (or someone with equivalent academic qualifications and experience) as an established and systematic training programme will be provided. However, experience in one or more of the following would be an advantage:

• Background (analytical or practical) in nuclear reactor physics, neutron transport or reactor engineering
• Familiar with generic concepts of modelling and simulation, prediction uncertainties, verification and validation.
• Technical computing in a UNIX-like environment, scripting and data analysis tools.
• Use of Monte Carlo computer modelling codes and techniques (e.g. use of MONK, MCNP, SERPENT etc.).
• Experience with the legislative requirements of the Nuclear Industry (in particular safety case development).
• AGR or PWR operations from a Nuclear Safety Group, or Operations, perspective.