Senior Process Engineer – Recycling

Description

SHINE is seeking a senior process engineer for our used nuclear fuel (UNF) Recycling product line. The US has more than 95,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel and nowhere to put it. This role owns the process systems that turn it back into energy. The process, liquid-liquid separation, has been commercialized before, but we are integrating new technologies to improve proliferation resistance and maximize recovery.

The Senior Process Engineer – Recycling owns the chemical and mechanical systems of SHINE’s used nuclear fuel (UNF) Recycling Pilot facility which ensure the safe, efficient, and effective operation of the facility. Key responsibilities include carrying those systems from preliminary design through detailed design, working with SHINE R&D and vendors to finalize design for fabrication, reviewing final design for installation, testing, and operability considerations, preparing or approving equipment test plans, participating in factory acceptance tests and site acceptance tests, performing site walkdowns, and other design, procurement, installation, and testing tasks.

The job takes judgment as much as method. Process design at SHINE is expected to be as simple as it can safely be made: the engineer specifies what the process needs and no more, understands which requirements are earning their keep, and says so when one is not — to the Chief Engineer, to licensing, and to vendors.

Hybrid work arrangement will be considered. Our key facilities are in Janesville, Wisconsin and Fitchburg, WI. Candidates may be asked to travel occasionally for team meetings or onsite engagements, depending on business needs.

The base salary range for this position is $105,000 - $150,000 per year plus a comprehensive compensation package. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Own the Process Design

• Own the process design of assigned systems: process flow diagrams, P&IDs, material and energy balances, equipment sizing, and the design requirements that flow from them.
• Prepare and review design packages, specifications, test plans, calculations, reports, and drawings in the following areas:
  • Radiation hot cell installation and use
  • Piping, valves, and tanks design, use, installation, and testing
  • Confinement boundaries testing
  • Air handling testing
  • Chemical separations of aqueous media
  • Fluid flow and heat transfer
  • Other chemical and mechanical calculations
• Apply a graded approach to the requirements on assigned systems: justify each one, and take the ones that cannot be justified to the Chief Engineer for removal.
• Lead or participate in hazard and operability studies (HAZOPs) and design reviews for assigned systems, and close the actions that come out of them.
• Work with SHINE R&D to carry process technology from development into a design that can be fabricated, licensed and operated.

Carry the Design Through Procurement and Testing

• Write equipment specifications and requirements documents that vendors can build to, and work with procurement to purchase equipment.
• Work with equipment vendors on factory acceptance tests, site acceptance tests, and on-time/on-budget design and/or delivery of chemical process equipment
• Perform owner’s acceptance reviews for vendor provided reports and calculations.
• Prepare/review test plans for factory and site acceptance testing of equipment.
• Perform walk-downs of installed equipment in the field.

Success in the First Twelve Months:

• The process design for assigned systems has reached the maturity needed to support the Pilot facility construction permit application (or equivalent), and is under configuration control.
• The requirements on assigned systems have been reviewed against a graded approach, and the ones that could not be justified have been removed with the reasoning documented.
• Long-lead equipment has been identified and its specifications are far enough along to engage vendors.

Requirements

Qualifications:

• Ability to oversee multiple projects/activities in an environment with changing priorities
• Willingness to learn, understand, and develop new technology
• Demonstrated judgment on conservatism: has challenged a default design requirement and found a path that was as safe or safer and materially simpler, faster or less expensive.
• Ability to critically evaluate information, and the confidence to ask questions when things do not make sense.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills
• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering (PhD work may be included) preferred.
• The following experience is preferred:
  • Experience designing a first of a kind system in a team environment with coworkers and/or vendors, carried it through fabrication and testing, and of what they would do differently
  • Experience with valves
  • Experience working with procurement to obtain equipment
  • Experience working with vendors on final system design and testing
  • Experience writing requirements documents
• Experience in any of the following areas would make a candidate stand out:
  • Experience with equipment that handles radioactive materials
  • Project Management
  • Knowledge of nuclear fuel cycle processes, in particular aqueous separations
  • Chemical process technology transfer, or scaling a process from pilot to commercial

Working Conditions and Physical Effort:

Employees must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily. If requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job, absent undue hardship.

Eligibility for employment is conditioned on the applicant’s ability to qualify for access to information subject to U.S. Export Controls. Additionally, applicant’s eligibility may be conditioned based upon meeting the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements for access to Safeguards Information, which typically requires a pre-employment drug screen, fingerprinting and criminal background check.

SHINE values diversity in all its forms as a critical component of innovation, which is fundamental to our success. Every member of the SHINE community benefits from the talents and experiences of our peers, from the mutual respect we exercise, and from the responsibility we take for our actions.

SHINE Technologies is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

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