The Opportunity

We currently have an exciting opportunity within the Nuclear Safety Group here at Hartlepool Power Station as a Reactor Physicist.

The work of the Nuclear Safety Group at Hartlepool Power Station encompasses a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines and provides an excellent development opportunity to broaden the skills and knowledge of the successful applicant and acquire valuable experience at an operational nuclear facility. If this sounds like a role for you, we would love to hear from you!

At EDF we generate around 16% of the country’s electricity. We produce safe, secure, low carbon energy that keeps the lights on and powers the nation! We do this by operating nuclear reactors and are currently the only nuclear operator in the UK.

As our fleet heads towards the end of its generating phase we look forward to the challenges of defueling, decommissioning and new nuclear build! During all of this we must make sure that Nuclear Safety is our overriding priority. This means that we must be able to demonstrate how we safely operate our nuclear power stations and deal with credible hazards and faults, ensuring that harm to the public is avoided.

The Nuclear Safety Group at Hartlepool maintain the station Safety Case – the technical justification of how we demonstrate that risk of radiological harm to the public is kept As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). The team work cross-functionally with other power station teams and central technical departments to ensure that the safety case is both up-to-date and that we are able to meet the requirements of the case.

Pay, benefits and culture

We’re offering a salary ranging from £40,069 - £60,826 that apply with our terms and conditions covered by the EDF Company Agreement. The starting salary for the appointment will be dependent on your existing salary, competence, experiences and qualification. We also offer an attractive pension scheme, paid holidays and a range of flexible benefits that support our employees’ physical, emotional and financial wellbeing.

At EDF, everyone’s welcome. We strive to create an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone has a voice and where you feel confident being yourself. We’re committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We’d like our future workforce to have an equal gender balance, represent a broad mix of people from minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+, those with a disability and supporting social mobility. We are a disability confident employer and we’ll do all we can to help you thought the process, adjusting along the way as required.

Please let us know if you require flexible working arrangements by highlighting this in your application.

We value the difference you bring and offer opportunities for you to thrive and succeed.

What you’ll be doing

You will be based at Hartlepool Power Station. As a Nuclear Safety Team Member specialising in reactor physics, you will be applying an analytical approach to problem solving, including the provision of technical advice to the power station in areas including reactor physics and nuclear fuel performance. You will assess reactor core state and provide advice to the Operations department to optimise plant operation. You will monitor reactor coolant activity using gamma-spectroscopy equipment and provide advice on the state and health of the nuclear fuel. You will also be developing skills in Safety Case management and advising on compliance with the station safety case and work towards undertaking a role on the Station Emergency Scheme.

Your key day to day responsibilities will include:

• Analysing/interpreting data and providing authoritative advice to support management of the plant in a safe and efficient manner and within the appropriate safety limits
• Running reactor physics codes to model reactor core behaviour
• Reactor core management – optimisation of reactor operation to ensure safe, secure, reliable generation of electricity
• Fuel management – reactor core ‘design’ including specifying fuel loadings, optimising run lengths and refuelling outage placement to meet generation targets
• Reactor coolant gas activity analysis using gamma-spectroscopy
• Fuel performance monitoring
• Providing a professional customer/client-based quality service in relevant aspects of Nuclear Plant Performance and Safety Case Management
• Undertaking a relevant role in accordance with the station emergency response arrangements (subject to completion of appropriate training).

Who you are

We are looking for ambitious, intelligent and inquisitive individuals who can solve challenging problems with both integrity and pragmatism. Your excellent communication and influencing skills will be required to provide understanding, interpretation and guidance on reactor physics, compliance, Site Licence and safety case matters and you will challenge the Station to ensure that Nuclear Safety remains the overriding priority.

We expect a candidate with the following attributes:

• A degree-level qualification of at least 2:1 in are relevant engineering, physical sciences or mathematics discipline.
• A passion for nuclear energy and science/engineering.
• The ability to solve complex technical problems with pragmatism
• Be able to communicate technical issues to both specialists and non-specialists simply and clearly, both verbally and in writing
• Have drive and enthusiasm for your own professional development
• Have the ability to work independently, taking on responsibility for delivery of assignments within deadlines as well as being a strong team player.

The following qualities are desirable:

• Experience of working at an operational nuclear power station or within the nuclear industry
• Relevant experience in submarine reactors, research reactors or novel nuclear technologies
• Ability to run reactor physics codes and interpret the results
• Coding ability in languages such as VBA, C, Fortran
• Safety case management including authoring of Engineering changes and Category 2 safety submissions
• Be a Chartered Engineer, Physicist or Scientist, awarded by an accredited professional institution

Applications for this role close: Sunday October 1, 2023

Join us and together we can help Britain achieve Net Zero.