Reactor Physics & Neutronics Engineer — Micro Modular Reactor
Pisa, Italy · Onsite · Permanent · *****,000 € + premio
Design the core of a reactor that will actually get built
Most nuclear engineers spend a career optimising someone else's core.
This is a chance to define one from a blank sheet.
Our client is a nuclear technology company developing a
Micro Modular Reactor
— small enough to transport, simple enough to deploy where grid power doesn't reach, and designed to produce both clean electricity and
medical and industrial radioisotopes
.
They are currently taking the design through the
US NRC licensing process
, which means the neutronics work you do here doesn't sit in a report.
It goes into a licensing submittal, and then into hardware.
Why this role is different:
Real scope, real ownership.
A (team size) engineering team, not a 400-person division.
Your core design decisions reach the CTO the same week you make them.
Licensing-grade work.
Your analyses become part of a formal NRC submittal — the highest-rigour environment in the industry, and a credential that follows you for the rest of your career.
Two missions in one machine.
Carbon-free power and isotope production for cancer diagnostics and treatment.
What you'll own
You'll be the reactor physics authority on the MMR core — from first-principles modelling through to defending your numbers in front of a regulator.
Core design & optimisation
— define and iterate the core configuration, working the trade space between reactivity, thermal limits, cycle length and manufacturability.
Neutronics analysis
— criticality and reactivity coefficients, burnup and depletion, cross-section generation, flux and power distributions.
Shielding & dose
— shielding design,



dose rate calculations, and validation of radiation barriers.
Fuel cycle
— fuel management strategy and fuel cycle analysis for a first-of-a-kind core.
Licensing support
— produce the analyses and technical documentation that support the NRC submittal, and engage directly with regulators and reviewers.
Safety analysis
— support risk assessment and failure mode analysis on reactor components alongside the safety team.
Method & tool development
— improve the models, workflows and verification practices the team will rely on for the next decade.
What you'll bring
Essential
MSc in Nuclear Engineering, Reactor Physics, or a closely related field.
Strong grounding in
reactor physics
— you can explain why a core behaves the way your model says it does.
Hands-on experience with at least one Monte Carlo or deterministic neutronics code:
Serpent, MCNP, SCALE, PARCS
, or equivalent.
Working knowledge of nuclear safety principles and a regulatory framework (
NRC, IAEA, or a national equivalent
).
The engineering judgement to know when a result is wrong before the reviewer tells you.
Clear written English — your documentation will be read by regulators.
Nice to have (genuinely optional)
PhD in reactor physics, neutronics, or radiation transport.
Experience contributing to a
licensing submittal
or safety case.
Micro-reactor, SMR, HTGR, molten salt or research-reactor experience.
Radioisotope production experience.
Scripting for automation and coupling (Python).
Italian
— useful for working with (the Italian engineering team / partners), not required.
Don't tick every box?
Apply anyway.
Deep strength in core design and neutronics matters far more to us than a complete checklist.
#J-*****-Ljbffr

📌 Nuclear Reactor Engineer (Pisa)
🏢 Danem People Group
📍 Pisa