Thermal Hydraulic & Severe Accident Consultant
Location: Warrington, Cheshire
Department: Safety & Performance, Defence Nuclear Business Group
Salary: £25k to £35k depending on experience and qualifications
The Role
The Safety and Performance Area supports a number of clients concerned with naval nuclear propulsion and with civil nuclear power. These include the Ministry of Defence, Rolls-Royce, British Energy and the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. Our work is split approximately equally into two main activities. Firstly, we carry out Independent Nuclear Safety Assessments and provide independent technical/safety advice to our clients. Secondly, we carry out part of a major research programme to develop improved nuclear propulsion systems. Our contribution includes developing the use of specialised modelling software.
This post represents an excellent opportunity for applied physicists, engineers or mathematical modellers who wish to develop expertise in fluid flow, heat transfer, fission product transport and containment performance. Our interests include modelling the behaviour of nuclear reactor systems, under normal, faulted or severe accident conditions. Our customers for this work come from government and private industry. This post will focus on the research activities mentioned.
Safety and Performance is a large department of experienced scientists and engineers working on a diverse range of projects for a broad portfolio of customers. Working on these projects requires interaction with colleagues across the department, as well as supporting colleagues across the company. Many of our more experienced staff provide the technical lead on such projects, and this post offers the opportunity to develop into such a role. There is also scope for project management.
Serco is committed to the training and continuing professional development of its staff. We seek to keep our skills up to date by appropriate training, attendance at conferences and liaison with universities.
Main Responsibilities
- The provision of technical consultancy within the UK nuclear sector, including analysing problems and developing solutions
- Application, testing and validation of computer codes to simulate nuclear reactor performance and behaviour under severe accident conditions
- Involvement in research tasks in the civil or defence nuclear sectors
- The production of technical reports to record the outcome of the work
- Representing the Department in technical meetings with clients and third parties
- Delivering your work to agreed timescales and budget
Requirements - Education and Experience
- Educated to degree level in mathematics, physics or engineering
- A relevant post graduate qualification or equivalent experience, preferably in heat transfer or fluid flow, is essential
- Previous experience within the civil nuclear industry or the defence nuclear sector would be an advantage, as would familiarity with analysis techniques (eg, Computational Fluid Dynamics) and computer codes (eg, RELAP, ASTEC, TRACE)
- This post includes work on defence related projects. Candidates must be UK citizens and must be able to gain the appropriate level of security clearance
- The candidate must have experience of expressing themselves clearly and accurately in formal written reports
Core Competences
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
- Good analytical skills and the ability to interpret a variety of technical information, distilling and conveying key information
- The desire and ability to deliver to time, budget and quality
- The ability to work well in multi-disciplinary teams
- Flexibility and adaptability, to be able to work on a variety of project
- Attention to detail
- Positive, proactive and enthusiastic approach to customer interactions
Remuneration
A competitive salary (in the range £25k to £35k) and remuneration package will be agreed depending on qualifications and experience.
To apply please send your CV with covering letter stating the role/location you are interested in and quoting your current remuneration package to: tas.opportunities@serco.com