Safety Integration Lead

About the Role

BlueCore Energy is hiring a Safety Integration Lead to perform and direct the nuclear safety analysis for our 45 MWt floating Pressurized Water Reactor at the Port of Long Beach, the first commercial maritime nuclear plant ever submitted to the NRC for licensing. This is a hands-on, full-time technical role: you will run thermal-hydraulic and severe accident codes (RELAP5-3D, MELCOR, GOTHIC), build and quantify PRA models in SAPHIRE or equivalent tools, author safety analysis reports and PRA documentation for the Part 50 license application, and prepare the DOE safety submittals (NSDA, PDSA, DSA) for the critical test reactor and zero-power physics testing (ZPPT) program. You will engage NRC reviewers in pre-application meetings, defend analytical positions, and help shape the regulatory framework for an entirely new class of floating nuclear plants. This role carries significant autonomy: you own the safety analysis from code input decks through final licensing submittals.

Responsibilities

• Safety Analysis Strategy & Execution: Define the overall safety analysis approach for the Part 50 license application, selecting the deterministic and probabilistic methods, codes, and data sources for each element of the licensing case, and lead the execution of that strategy, performing key analyses directly and coordinating inputs from the broader engineering team.

• Probabilistic Risk Assessment: Build and quantify the PRA model in SAPHIRE, CAFTA, or RiskSpectrum for the first commercial maritime nuclear PRA ever submitted to the NRC. Develop event trees and fault trees, identify and quantify initiating events, perform importance and sensitivity analyses, classify SSCs, and evaluate defense-in-depth. Author the PRA documentation for the license application.

• Deterministic Safety Analysis: Run thermal-hydraulic and severe accident codes (RELAP5-3D, MELCOR, GOTHIC) to perform the Chapter 15 transient and accident analyses for the Part 50 license application. Develop input decks, execute design-basis and beyond-design-basis calculations, interpret results, and author the safety analysis reports for each design phase.

• DOE Critical Test Reactor Safety Submittals: Lead preparation of the Nuclear Safety Design Assessment (NSDA), Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA), and Documented Safety Analysis (DSA) for the critical test reactor and zero-power physics testing (ZPPT) program under DOE 10 CFR 830. Coordinate hazard identification, accident analysis, and controls selection for the DOE authorization basis.

• RELAP5-3D Maritime Environment Modeling: Set up and run RELAP5-3D models that capture the maritime operating environment: dynamic vessel motion, seawater cooling boundary conditions, barge inclination transients, and coupled thermal-hydraulic/reactor kinetics behavior unique to a moored floating reactor. Validate model results against design requirements and iterate with reactor and naval architecture teams.

• Hazard Analysis: Perform hazard analyses and quantify initiating event frequencies for hazards with no commercial nuclear precedent: ship collision, hull breach flooding, dynamic vessel inclination, maritime fire. Collect and adapt data from marine casualty databases (IMO, USCG MISLE, BSEE offshore data) for a moored nuclear facility, and author the hazard analysis documentation for the license application.

• Emergency Planning Zone Sizing: Perform EPZ sizing analysis, running source term calculations, atmospheric dispersion models, and maritime-specific release pathway analyses to determine the appropriate EPZ methodology and boundaries for a floating reactor at a port facility. Author the EPZ technical basis document.

• Regulatory Engagement: Work directly with NRC reviewers in pre-application meetings to defend novel analytical positions and shape the licensing framework for an entire class of floating nuclear plants. Prepare and support responses to requests for additional information (RAIs).

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Nuclear Engineering, Reliability Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on experience.

• Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining a full-scope PRA for an NRC-licensed or NRC-regulated nuclear facility, with strong working knowledge of event tree/fault tree modeling, initiating event analysis, SSC safety classification, and defense-in-depth evaluation.

• Experience performing or directing deterministic nuclear safety analyses (transient analysis, LOCA, reactivity events) using thermal-hydraulic codes such as RELAP5-3D, RELAP, TRACE, or similar.

• Familiarity with the DOE staged safety analysis process (NSDA, PDSA, DSA) under 10 CFR 830, or equivalent phased design safety review frameworks.

• Proficiency with industry-standard PRA software such as SAPHIRE, CAFTA, or RiskSpectrum, and familiarity with supporting severe accident codes (e.g., MAAP, MELCOR, GOTHIC).

• Experience engaging directly with NRC staff, such as through pre-application meetings, requests for additional information, or licensing basis documentation.

• Ability to work with limited precedent, including adapting data from adjacent industries (marine casualty databases, offshore safety records) into a rigorous nuclear risk framework.

Desired Qualifications & Skills

• Experience with RELAP5-3D specifically, including modeling of coupled thermal-hydraulic and reactor kinetics systems.

• Familiarity with maritime, offshore, or naval nuclear systems, or with USCG and IMO regulatory frameworks.

• Experience with EPZ sizing methodologies, atmospheric dispersion modeling, or source term analysis for licensing applications.

• Prior experience on a first-of-a-kind licensing effort, taking a novel design through its first regulatory submission.