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.
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.
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📌 Reactor Physics & Neutronics Engineer (Pisa)
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