Full-Time
Commonwealth Fusion Systems
501-1,000 employees
Develops and commercializes fusion energy technology
Compensation Overview
$80k - $180k/yr
Senior
Devens, MA, USA
This position is onsite.
- BS in Chemical, Mechanical, Petroleum or Nuclear Engineering or a related field
- Graduate degree in the field preferred but not required
- 5+ years experience managing process engineering teams and projects
- 7+ years of experience in the engineering of integrated thermofluid and chemical processing systems, from conceptual design through operation
- Experience developing specifications for thermofluid components, (e.g. pumps, valves, tanks, etc)
- Experience with severe service working fluids (e.g. high temperature, hazardous fluids, etc)
- Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, technical staff and others
- Ability to clearly express and critique ideas
- Great communication and organizational skills (required)
- Strong problem solving skills, ability to approach new problems with creativity
- Working knowledge of PIP, ASME BPVC, ASME B31 and other relevant industry standards
- Working knowledge of process and fluid simulation tools (COMSOL, Aspen, etc)
- Develop team infrastructure to ensure common design process and process engineering methods across multiple projects
- Understand priorities across projects and prioritize resources between them to mitigate risk
- Develop best practices for process engineering with molten salts
- Review technical documents and calculations from process team members for accuracy and alignment with project goals
- Act as a link between salt process engineering team and other groups within CFS
- Serve as technical authority on process engineering both within CFS and in collaborations with external partners
- Support hazard identification and risk assessment (HIRA) activities (e.g. HAZOP, LOPA, What If?)
- Contribute individually as an expert process engineer as needed:
- Develop and maintain specifications and interface requirements for the design, fabrication, and operation of salt systems
- Provide component specifications and oversee vendor selection process
- Identify, communicate, and manage design risks. Develop efficient de-risking strategies and plans
- Perform design calculations (e.g. H&MB) and develop technical deliverables (e.g. PFD, P&ID, Process Design Basis, Control Philosophy, Operation & Maintenance Strategy)
- Experience managing multiple projects and prioritizing resources
- Experience building teams and engineering management processes
- Experience with molten salt systems
- Experience with degassing systems or industrial gas/liquid or liquid/liquid separation systems
- Experience with Front-End-Loading (FEL) engineering design cycle, or equivalent
- Experience with first-of-a-kind, R&D, or pilot system development
Commonwealth Fusion Systems focuses on developing fusion energy as a clean and sustainable power source. The company utilizes advanced magnet technology, created in partnership with MIT, to build smaller and more affordable fusion systems called tokamaks. These devices use magnetic fields to confine plasma, making them an efficient method for achieving fusion. Currently, CFS is manufacturing high-temperature superconducting magnets and constructing SPARC, the first commercially-relevant net energy fusion machine, which will lead to the development of ARC, the first fusion power plant. CFS differentiates itself from competitors by its commitment to scientific integrity and a mission-driven approach, aiming to provide cost-competitive fusion energy to help combat climate change.
Company Size
501-1,000
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$2B
Headquarters
Harvard, Massachusetts
Founded
2018
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- CFS plans to build the first grid-scale fusion plant in Virginia by 2024.
- High-temperature superconducting magnets reduce fusion reactor size and cost.
- Partnerships with Dominion Energy provide industry expertise and resources.
What critics are saying
- Regulatory hurdles may delay the Virginia fusion plant construction.
- Competition from companies like Proxima Fusion could impact CFS's market position.
- Supply chain risks due to reliance on rare-earth materials may affect operations.
What makes Commonwealth Fusion Systems unique
- CFS uses rare-earth barium copper oxide superconductor technology for energy development.
- Collaboration with MIT enhances CFS's fusion research and technological capabilities.
- CFS's SPARC and ARC projects aim to pioneer commercial fusion energy.
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Benefits
12.5 Company-wide Holidays
Our vacation policy is 'take vacation'
Our sick time policy is 'get better and try not to make others sick'
Generous parental leave policy
Health Reimbursement
Health, Dependent Care, & Limited Purpose Flexible Spending Accounts
Delta Dental, Blue 20/20 Vision optional
Wellbeing / Headspace coverage
Short-term & long-term disability
Life and AD&D insurance
401K
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%Fusion Fuel EfficiencyNuclear Fusion is potentially the ultimate green energy source, producing no dangerous byproducts, radioactivity (the only “waste” is helium), or greenhouse gases. And it could be powered by a fuel so abundant that it is a significant percentage of the entire Universe: deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen.But this is also a very difficult to achieve form of energy generation. It requires replicating on Earth the conditions in the core of the Sun, with tremendous pressures and tens or hundreds of millions of degrees.Nuclear fusion has been achieved in physics laboratories for decades, but a net energy-positive fusion reaction is still to be reached. This is what many are racing to accomplish, from the international megaproject ITER to commercial fusion projects like Commonwealth Fusion Systems and Proxima Fusion.Commercial viability will depend not only on achieving stable and energy-positive plasma generation, but also on the general efficiency of the process.One open question is the fuel efficiency. Deuterium is known to be partially absorbed by the walls of the tokamak fusion reactors. Researchers at Princeton University, University of California, University of Tennessee, Sandia National Laboratory, and General Atomics are figuring it out.They published their results in Nuclear Materials and Energy1, under the title “Deuterium retention behaviors of boronization films at DIII-D divertor surface”.Deuterium, Tritium FusionThe lighter an atom is, the more potential energy is released when it undergoes nuclear fusion
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, December 2024 - John Kruep has been appointed as Senior Director, People Operations at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS).
Fusion, The Ultimate Energy SourceAs stable, reliable, cheap, and carbon-neutral energy supplies become an increasingly pressing issue, all eyes have been on nuclear solutions.This includes nuclear fission, or the splitting of heavy atoms like uranium, thorium, or plutonium. This technology is making a dramatic comeback on the back of the phasing out of coal and gas power plants, despite the need for baseload power generation, as well as the trends of electrification of transportation, heating, and industrial production.It is, however, not without problems, even for the more advanced 4th generation of nuclear power plants. Most notably, it still involves the handling of highly radioactive materials, something the public is still wary of and never going to be fully environmentally neutral.This is why scientists have been looking at the promises of nuclear fusion, which merge together atoms like hydrogen, the same phenomenon powering the Sun.This would use a fuel that is the most abundant element in the Universe and produce only harmless helium or lithium. It would also be powerful enough to make available essentially infinite energy, with zero risk of explosion or runaway chain reaction.The problem is that producing the required conditions is so hard to achieve that no fusion reactor has ever come close to commercialization so far.This might change in less than a decade, at least according to Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). The company has just announced that it is moving toward building the first commercial fusion reactor in Virginia .CFS Reactor ProjectCommonwealth Fusion Systems is aiming for its ARC reactor to generate 400 MW for the Virginian power grid, which is enough to power 150,000 homes.This is a radical advancement for the field of nuclear fusion, as it always seemed that the first scale-up reactor was 20-30 years away. Even the massive international endeavor that is ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is not expected to be finished before 2039.In comparison, the CFS reactor is planned to be built on a site owned by the energy company Dominion (D +0.2%)
CFS plans to invest billions into constructing the plant near Richmond, which is expected to generate 400 megawatts of electricity-enough to power around 150,000 homes.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), founded in 2018 in Cambridge, Mass., plans to build a fusion power plant in Chesterfield County's James River Industrial Park.