Principle Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (SPRA) Engineer from System One
Bellevue, WA
About the Job
System One is seeking a Principle Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (SPRA) Engineer for a remote work model, long-term contract opportunity, with our client, based out of Bellevue, WA.
The Principal Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (SPRA) Engineer reports directly to the IPS Seismic Integration Manager. The Principal SPRA Engineer will work with the Seismic Integration Team and Risk Assessment team and is responsible for oversight/production of the SPRA and severe accident analysis for the reactor design.
The Principal SPRA Engineer is primarily responsible for performing, directing, overseeing, and accepting SPRA work performed in coordination with deterministic safety analysis, fragility, and other engineering disciplines/groups to design a reliable and safe plant. Additionally, the Principal SPRA Engineer will use developed SPRA models to provide risk information such as importance measures and changes in risk metrics to inform design and licensing decisions. Also, the individual is expected to develop fault and event trees as well as perform sensitivity analysis.
Other engineering activities include, but are not limited to, contributing to the development of methodologies and models to support a Risk Informed, Performance Based approach to seismic design and licensing, design integration, participating in hazard analysis working groups, participating in Phenomena Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT) exercises, and participating with Structures, Systems, and Components (SSC) classification, Licensing Basis Events (LBE) selection, and Defense-in-Depth (DID) Evaluations.
The Principal PRA Engineer will be interacting with other groups via interviews, emails, meetings, and other avenues to develop the risk models and the position requires sound written and verbal communication skills.
This position requires an understanding of SPRA principles and familiarity with the ASME/ANS PRA standard and the Licensing Modernization Project. While this position requires knowledge of sodium fast reactor technology, this knowledge can be obtained on the job through various in-house training workshops and interaction with staff.
Responsibilities
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Manage SPRA work performed in coordination with plant design, deterministic safety analysis, and other disciplines.
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Ensure that the SPRA is appropriate and used for the reactor design and within regulatory requirements, guidance, and standards such as risk-informed performance-based technology guidance for Non-Light Water Reactors (RG 1.233 and NEI 18-04) and ASME/ANS Non-Light Water PRA standard.
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Lead the development of planning and schedule for SPRA related activities.
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Provide technical guidance to engineers and managers on reliability and various SPRA-related topics.
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Participate in SPRA peer reviews.
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Review and support the development of event and fault trees for SPRA models.
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Work with an interdisciplinary team of engineers to establish core and reactor SSC functional, reliability, performance, safety, and quality requirements as well as support the overall design.
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Establish and maintain documentation of model development and analysis results.
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Perform engineering reviews of analyses and other engineering design media.
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Develop containment fault trees and event trees to reflect most up to date design using CAFTA.
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Group similar source terms for assignment to event sequence end states.
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Perform risk integration using the PRA model to report risk metrics and importance measures.
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Perform focused PRA analysis to support trade studies.
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Perform hand calculations using first principles to assess and validate more complex models for system performance, containment performance, and radiological consequences.
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Prepare topical reports describing PRA methods and analytical results for customers and regulators.
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Deliver presentations for internal management and external customers and regulators.
Key Qualifications and Skills
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B.S., or M.S. in nuclear, mechanical, electrical, or aerospace engineering (or similar).
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Three years or more of experience in Probabilistic Risk Assessment.
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Knowledgeable of PRA principles and familiar with the ASME/ANS Non-Light Water PRA standard.
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Knowledge on risk-informed performance-based regulations and applications.
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Knowledgeable of PRA fundamentals in data, human reliability, accident analysis, severe accidents, and source terms assessments.
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Experience with PRA software: CAFTA in particular; SAPHIRE, Risk Spectrum, or other similar software still considered valuable.
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Experience with performing assessments using codes such as GOTHIC, MELCOR, RADTRAD, or similar tools is a plus.
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Demonstrated technical writing and communication skills.
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Experience with sodium cooled reactors or other advanced reactors preferred.
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Fluent in spoken and written English language.
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A broad understanding of the various engineering disciplines and how they interrelate in the design of a Nuclear Power Plant.
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High degree of trust, integrity, open communication, respect for others, and teamwork.