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Salary: USD 144,000 - 176,000 / annual
Valar Atomics is a Series A advanced nuclear energy company developing high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology to enable scalable, factory-built clean energy for industrial applications, hydrogen production, and next-generation manufacturing. The company is building its first pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah.
You will join the Instrumentation, Control & Electrical (IC&E) organization as a Senior Nuclear I&C Hardware Engineer, owning the plant design and application of nuclear instrumentation for the reactor program. This is a senior individual contributor role with significant technical scope and responsibility for providing direction to vendors, contractors, and junior engineers.
Key responsibilities include:
• Select, specify, and analyze neutron flux detection hardware (fission chambers, ion chambers, proportional counters) across source, intermediate, and power range instrumentation, accounting for range overlap, sensitivity, cable and environmental constraints.
• Design and analyze complete nuclear instrumentation signal chains: detector biasing, preamplifier selection and placement, pulse and fluctuation (Campbell/MSV) mode processing, cable selection and length effects, termination, noise management, and grounding practices.
• Apply detector physics principles—neutron interactions, detector response, gamma discrimination, activation, and radiation transport—to instrument selection, placement, and shielding decisions in coordination with reactor physics and shielding teams.
• Select and specify radiation monitoring instrumentation including area monitors, process and effluent monitors, and health physics instruments, with attention to range, response, and regulatory basis.
• Specify process instrumentation for nuclear service (temperature, pressure, flow, level) in the primary helium loop and supporting systems, addressing environmental compatibility, materials, and qualification implications of high-temperature helium service.
• Produce and own instrumentation engineering documentation: instrument data sheets, specifications, loop diagrams, I/O lists, block diagrams, and installation details.
• Develop instrument installation and physical integration design, including instrument locations, thermowells, penetrations, junction boxes, cable and mineral-insulated cable routing, and physical separation in coordination with electrical and mechanical teams.
• Lead environmental and radiation qualification for assigned equipment: develop qualification plans, define application service conditions, review and accept vendor qualification test reports and analyses, perform thermal and radiation aging analysis, and produce qualification documentation consistent with IEEE 323 and IEEE 344 methodologies.
• Execute reactor protection system hardware scope including sensor selection, redundancy and voting architecture input, channel independence and separation considerations, setpoint analysis input, and response time analysis and testing.
• Collaborate with I&C, electrical, reactor physics, thermal-hydraulics, and nuclear safety engineers in a hands-on environment where measurement quality directly supports reactor safety.
The role emphasizes technical depth, disciplined documentation, and a safety-first culture. You will own nuclear instrumentation scope end-to-end, from instrument selection and signal chain design through installation design, qualification, and commissioning.
REQUIREMENTS:
• Bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering, electrical engineering, or related field (or equivalent professional experience).
• 8+ years of professional experience in nuclear instrumentation, I&C design, or related nuclear engineering disciplines.
• Deep knowledge of nuclear instrumentation hardware: neutron detectors (fission chambers, ion chambers, proportional counters), signal conditioning electronics, and radiation monitoring systems.
• Strong understanding of nuclear signal chain design, including detector biasing, preamplifier selection, pulse and current mode processing, cable effects, noise, and grounding.
• Experience with nuclear qualification methodologies (IEEE 323, IEEE 344) and environmental/radiation qualification of safety-related equipment.
• Familiarity with nuclear quality programs (NQA-1, 10 CFR 50 Appendix B) as applied to design, procurement, and test records.
• Knowledge of reactor physics and radiation transport principles as they apply to instrumentation selection and placement.
• Experience with reactor protection systems, safety-related instrumentation, and nuclear regulatory requirements.
• Familiarity with radiation transport or reactor physics codes (MCNP, Serpent, OpenMC, SCALE, or equivalent).
• Experience with data acquisition systems and Python or MATLAB for test data analysis.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment with significant autonomy and ownership.
