Senior Reactor Fault Studies Analyst

Role Title: Senior Reactor Fault Studies Analyst

Location: Hybrid working with a primary site of Derby, Manchester or Warrington

We are Rolls-Royce SMR and we're doing something that's never been done before. We're revolutionising an industry. That's a once-in-a-career opportunity for those excited by such a challenge. This is more than just a job; this is a legacy.

We are now recruiting for the exciting role of Senior Reactor Fault Studies Analyst, to be involved in industry leading, cutting-edge design project for a new type of power station.

As a senior performance analyst, you will technically lead a small team to model fluid and thermal systems that extract power from the nuclear core and ensure safe operation of the reactor. This will involve producing models and analyses that demonstrate operation of the reactor and working closely with system designers to optimise the design of the plant and its safety systems to maximise safety, performance, and value for money. Analysis outputs form a key input to the safety case and support the overall substantiation of the power station design. Performance analysts have a key role in supporting the development of and authoring analysis sections of the safety case.

The team uses a wide variety of tools and software to analyse key scenarios for the plant, including:

• Normal operations, when the reactor must produce power and respond to changes in demand from the grid.
• Operating transients such as shutting down the reactor and then restarting it for refuelling.
• Reactor faults, where passive safety systems are key to protecting the core and ensuring the integrity of the containment.

Due to the safety-critical nature of the modelling we undertake, excellent quality-management processes and code verification, validation and uncertainty quantification are essential. The development of robust and automated analysis routes around the analysis codes, primarily developed using Python on our Linux based high-performance computing resources is an important aspect of this. All performance engineers have a role in ensuring the quality of outputs through rigorous process adherence, supporting code validation activities and supporting the continuous improvement of our methods and tools.

The performance team collaborates closely with our in-house test capability team, who are building large-scale multi-megawatt test rigs to represent key aspects of the plant to support the validation of the performance analysis tools. There are opportunities within the team to work on benchmarking of our codes against test data, and support the development of the test rig designs and associated test campaigns.

As performance analysis supports the development and substantiation of many aspects of the power station design, effective communication and collaboration with teams across a wide range engineering and non-engineering disciplines is essential. Staff should be flexible to evolving nature of the ongoing design programme and proactive in collaborating with other teams in developing analysis requirements and communicating results.

All performance engineers are responsible for planning their own work to ensure that objectives are met, quality processes are followed, and delivery is on schedule. Senior performance engineers will additionally be expected to apply technical expertise to support the development of capability and staff across the technical function and technically lead small teams and interfaces with other areas of the business.

Key Selection Criteria

• Fluids / thermal analysis (e.g. thermal hydraulic):
  • Experience of applying a structured and methodological approach to analysis.
  • A good understanding of fluid dynamics and thermal processes.
  • Experience of writing analysis reports at a range of levels and of structuring and writing analysis sections of safety cases.
  • Experience of using engineering industry standard fluids and thermal analysis software.
  • Desirable but not essential to have experience of nuclear industry thermal hydraulics analysis methods and tools: Reactor Plant Systems Analysis (RELAP, FLOMASTER), Core Sub-channel Analysis (VIPRE, CTF), Containment Analysis (GOTHIC).
• Development of analysis methods, models and tools:
  • Familiarity with software development processes and quality assurance arrangements.
  • Experience of developing fluid and thermal analysis models and methods to support design development or safety case development.
  • Development of analysis methods and tools in Python.
  • Beneficial but not essential to have experience of the above with nuclear industry thermal hydraulics codes and of code coupling with tools used in other disciplines e.g. core physics, fuel performance.
• Quality assurance of analysis codes and methods:
  • Verification of analysis models and software including analytical benchmarking, automated testing and adherence with software quality processes.
  • Validation of analytical models against experimental test data.
  • Quantification of analysis uncertainties including statistical methods and tool development.
  • Definition of requirements for and support to the design of thermal hydraulic test rigs.
• Relevant Domain Knowledge:
  • Knowledge of fluids / process / power-generation plant in a safety-critical industry such as nuclear, oil & gas, aerospace etc. Nuclear-specific knowledge, including the following areas, is desirable for senior roles but is not essential (training can be provided).
    • Knowledge of Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) design, plant and behaviour in fault scenarios.
    • Role of thermal hydraulics analysis and fault studies in reactor design substantiation and safety case.
    • Principles and methodologies applied in analysis of nuclear reactors in normal operation and faulted conditions.
    • Environmental, Safety, Security and Safeguarding (E3S) regulations and principles (including application of As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) and Best Available Technique (BAT) principles).
• Project management and leadership behaviours:
  • Proven experience of delivering of analysis tasks to time, cost and quality.
  • Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in technical reports, describing complex analysis in a way that is easy to understand.
  • Flexibility and adaptability in evolving design programmes and proven collaboration skills.
  • Experience of technically leading teams to deliver complex analysis of programmes.

Confidence can sometimes hold us back from applying for a job. But we'll let you in on a secret: there's no such thing as a 'perfect' candidate. If you feel you meet 75% of the requirements for this role, we would love to hear from you.

Also, if you are considering a career move or a sector-jump, please get in touch, we welcome applications from people with transferable skills.