Design Authority Safety Engineer

Closing Date: 6th April 2025

Role Title: Design Authority Safety Engineer

Location:  London / Manchester / Gloucester

We have a hybrid & flexible working policy of 3 days per week in the office. There are also travel opportunities to our offices in Turin (Italy) and Lyon (France) to collaborate with our Global Engineering Team.

About the Role:

This role is an exciting opportunity for an experienced nuclear engineer to apply their expertise to the development of newcleo’s LFR technology, helping to guide the design of the 200MWe LFR design from concept through to operation to deliver a product that is licensable in the UK.

You will have the opportunity to broaden your skills and knowledge on an ambitious, fast-paced and novel nuclear development programme, gain knowledge of fast reactor and liquid metal cooling technology, and to leverage your experience in solving some complex engineering challenges in an innovative and pragmatic way that maximises the benefit from the inherent safety of newcleo’s designs.

The role will require close cooperation with newcleo’s team of international experts, allowing the postholder to build an understanding of other regulatory regimes, and will play a key role in the delivery of several elements of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) for the 200MWe LFR, including production of the relevant safety submissions.

What You’ll be Doing:

• Act as a Topic Lead for newcleo’s GDA topics, managing regulatory engagement and resolving concerns efficiently in areas like hazards, fault studies, and severe accident analysis.
• Support the Design Authority Safety Lead in structuring safety case submissions and ensuring alignment with global licensing requirements, including the UK’s first AMR GDA safety case.
• Work with the LFR Engineering team to ensure the LFR-AS-200 design meets UK regulatory expectations and legislative requirements, contributing to safety assessments, hazard identification, and system design reviews.
• Provide nuclear safety expertise to the UK Project and Engineering teams, ensuring the LFR design is safe, cost-effective, and compliant with UK regulations.
• Apply best practices in safety case development, ensuring deliverables meet safety, security, environmental, and commercial objectives while supporting the UK’s energy goals.

Please note a full list of responsibilities & job description can be provided on request.

Your Skills and Experience: 

Please note, if you meet some but not all of the points below, we are still keen to hear from you!

• Demonstrable technical knowledge and experience relevant to Nuclear Power Plant design and safety justification – in particular we are keen to hear from candidates with experience in any of the following:
  • Hazards assessment – characterisation of hazards, identification of safety measures and assessment of the design resilience against hazards
  • Fault studies, including:
    • Hazard identification activities (various techniques)
    • Development of fault schedules
    • Application of categorisation and classification methods
    • Specification and interpretation of transient analyses and radiological consequence assessments
    • Application of safety analysis rules (single failure tolerance, combinations of events, maintenance assumptions, uncertainties etc).
  • Severe accident analysis – assessment of confinement functions and severe accident mitigation measures, noting that an LFR severe accident may be significantly different from an LWR severe accident, the wider philosophy of severe accident analysis is more relevant than use of specific analysis codes.
• Experience performing a Design Authority function and/or acting as an Intelligent Customer (or equivalent) and/or demonstrable experience of authoring safety case submissions for a UK Nuclear Power Plant
• Suitable knowledge of nuclear power plant design, UK codes, standards, regulations, and operational requirements, including ONR guidance
• Able to proceed in the face of complexity and uncertainty, making the complex simple and enjoying the challenge of adapting to a new technology.
• Previous experience in the delivery of GDA in the UK is desirable.
• High levels of motivation and commitment; Attention to detail.
• Builds strong collaborative relationships with colleagues whist providing strong constructive challenge.
• Degree in a relevant engineering
• (For a UK based role)  Right to work full time in the UK & can achieve a national security clearance equivalent to a BPSS standard, or higher, within a reasonable period.

What We Offer:

A competitive salary and benefits package including performance related share option scheme, private medical insurance, group life insurance, chartered membership funding & more!

The opportunity to be part of a revolutionary clean energy company working with a dynamic, international work environment with a team of experts.

The chance to make a significant impact on the future of nuclear energy and the environment.

About newcleo

Since launching in 2021 newcleo has quickly established itself as innovator in the field of nuclear energy. newcleo is working to design, build, and operate Gen-IV Advanced Modular Reactors (AMRs) that are cooled by liquid lead and fueled by reprocessed nuclear waste.

Through an innovative combination of existing and proven technologies, and by reviving a nuclear industry model based on the manufacture and multi-recycling of Mixed Oxide fuel, newcleo aims to close the nuclear fuel cycle while safely producing clean, affordable, and practically inexhaustible energy required for low carbon economies.  

With a EUR 50m group turnover in 2024, more than EUR 400m of private funding and over 70 partnerships and collaborations across the nuclear industry, the growth of the newcleo group is supported through the targeted acquisition of key companies with strong capabilities in nuclear engineering, manufacturing, and waste management.

Through its workforce of over 800 highly qualified employees across France, the UK, Italy, Switzerland, and Slovakia, newcleo is not only developing and delivering the skills and services required for the group’s own ambitious project timelines, but also supporting the development of Small Modular Reactor supply chains in Europe and beyond. 

_____________________________________________________________________   

If you are not ready to apply just yet, or have a few questions? Contact Cameron Emerson at Cameron.emerson@newcleo.com

Please note, all applications will need to be made via our online portal.