Principal Engineer, Seismic/CSA Integration & Oversight

TITLE:Principal Engineer – Seismic/CSA Integration & Oversight

LOCATION: Reston, VA, USA

TerraPower® is a nuclear energy technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At our core, we are working to raise living standards globally. The essential factor? Energy. In 2006, the company originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities, and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. TerraPower is committed to bringing sustainable, affordable and safe energy to address global issues. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications.

TerraPower is seeking to hire highly motivated and forward thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development, and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape. TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, as a federal contractor, TerraPower has instituted an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) in an effort to proactively recruit, hire, and promote women, minorities, disabled persons and veterans.

Principal Engineer – Seismic Integration & Oversight

TerraPower, LLC. Is seeking a highly motivated Principal Engineer to support Seismic and CSA Integration for TerraPower’s advanced nuclear reactor projects. In this role, you will support the development of plant level requirements and strategies relevant to complex seismic design and licensing activities, perform technical review of work products, and facilitate the integration and implementation of strategies and work products across project disciplines. Candidates must have extensive experience in seismic design and analysis, soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis, civil/structural design and analysis, safety and probabilistic analysis, seismic fragility evaluations, peer review, with a focus on seismic vulnerabilities (seismic interactions), and requirements/criteria development for nuclear power projects.

The Seismic/CSA Integration Engineer will provide regular in-person oversight and support for the Natrium project design work carried out by Bechtel at their Reston, VA headquarters. The successful candidate will coordinate with engineers working on structures, systems, components, and engineering analyses for successful integration of input and requirements for nuclear plant seismic design and analysis.

The ideal candidate will be located in Bechtel’s Reston, VA office to allow continuous in-person support, collaboration and oversight between Bechtel’s CSA and GSH&E organizations and TerraPower’s EPC Oversight team. Candidate would travel periodically to TerraPower’s Bellevue office to meet with Natrium managers and stakeholders. The Engineer will coordinate scope, schedule and technical integration for system design, 3D model and drawing development, and also support cross functional collaboration with licensing, safety analysis, and PRA.

Responsibilities

• Provide continuous oversight of Bechtel’s CSA and seismic design scope, covering building and structural systems, foundations, equipment supports, and integrated plant analyses such as soil–structure interaction (SSI), seismic fragility development, and PRA inputs.
• Coordinate and direct complex multi-system analyses, including SSI studies, seismic model development, external hazard characterization, and building seismic qualification, ensuring consistency with plant-level methodologies and licensing strategy.
• Perform and guide SSI analyses using in-house SASSI tools; establish repeatable frameworks, workflows, and benchmarks that improve analysis efficiency and traceability across multiple structures.
• Develop, document, and implement seismic design bases and strategies, supporting both deterministic and probabilistic methods; apply risk-informed, performance-based methodologies (e.g., LMP, RIPB) to define design acceptance criteria for SSCs.
• Author, review, and refine plant- and system-level requirements and specifications, integrating seismic and structural criteria into Bechtel’s design deliverables and ensuring seamless alignment with plant-level engineering.
• Interface across design disciplines (mechanical, I&C, nuclear safety, systems) to ensure seismic requirements, structural criteria, and performance expectations are clearly defined, properly allocated, and implemented across interfacing designs.
• Ensure adherence to licensing and code requirements (ASCE, ACI, AISC, ASCE 4/7/43, NUREG guidance), verifying they are correctly integrated into Bechtel’s CSA products and aligned with TerraPower’s licensing strategy.
• Support cost studies and trade-off evaluations as the CSA/seismic SME, ensuring technical rigor while balancing constructability, schedule, and economic considerations.
• Surveil Bechtel and subcontractor performance, monitoring design deliverables, verifying compliance with technical requirements, and ensuring design processes and quality programs are properly implemented.
• Lead and support design and integration reviews, chairing cross-functional resolution sessions for CSA/seismic challenges, and facilitating targeted technical forums (e.g., working groups, decision boards, digital/in-person reviews).
• Integrate seismic and CSA design information into licensing products, including regulatory submittals under the Licensing Modernization Project (LMP), ensuring design-basis alignment with licensing commitments.
• Report emerging technical risks to project and engineering management, providing timely recommendations for mitigation and escalation when needed.
• Drive continuous improvement, applying nuclear industry best practices to seismic modeling, fragility methods, and structural qualification, while identifying opportunities for improved efficiency, quality, and integration.

Key Qualifications & Skills

• Education: M.S. degree in Civil engineering or equivalent or higher
• 12+ years of civil/structural design and analysis and/or probabilistic risk assessment experience
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and with minimum direction to solve challenging problems
• Candidate must have strong analytical/problem solving skills
• Candidate must be a self-starter and possess ability to coordinate with internal and external engineering and design teams with minimal direction
• Experience with new nuclear power plant design projects
• Experience with risk-Informed performance based, and probabilistic methodologies for application to seismic design and analyses
• Experience in a broad range of design and integration topics throughout a product lifecycle, including conceptual design, final design, and construction
• Experience with structural design for complex external hazard loading such as seismic and aircraft impact
• Experience with commercial codes and standards such as UBC, ACI 318, AISC 360 and ASCE 7
• Experience with nuclear codes and standards such as ACI 349, ACI 359, AISC N690, ASCE 4, and ASCE 43
• Experience working projects with NRC or DOE regulations
• Ability to deliver projects that include many competing objectives and design constraints, with ability to resolve conflicts between objectives.
• Ability to work on tasks that require a multi-disciplinary approach.
• Experience working to quality standards on design activities, such as ASME NQA-1 or ISO 9001.
• The successful candidate will possess a high degree of trust and integrity, communicate openly and display respect and a desire to foster teamwork.

Job Functions

Job Functions are physical actions and/or working conditions associated with the position. These functions may also constitute essential functions for the job which the employee must be able to fulfill, with or without accommodation. Information provided below is to help describe the job so that the applicant has a reasonable understanding of the job duties/expectations. An applicant's ability to perform and/or tolerate these actions and conditions will be discussed and workplace accommodations may be made on a case-by-case basis following an individualized assessment of the applicant and other considerations, including but not limited to any governing safety standards.

• Motor Abilities: Sitting for extended periods, bending/stooping, grasping/gripping, fine motor control (hands)
• Physical exertion and/or requirements: Minimal, with ability to safely lift up to 25 pounds
• Repetitive work: Prolonged
• Special Senses: Visual and audio focused work
• Work Conditions: Stairs, typing/keyboard, standing and/or sitting working environment of >8 hrs./day
• Travel required 0-10%

TerraPower’s technology is controlled for export by various agencies of the U.S. Government. TerraPower must evaluate applicants who are foreign nationals (other than asylees, refugees, or lawful permanent residents) in accordance with U.S. Government export control requirements. To facilitate TerraPower’s export control reviews, you will be asked as part of the application process to identify whether you are a U.S. Citizen or national, asylee, refugee, or lawful permanent resident of the United States. Government export authorization approval times vary. Based on the business needs for a particular position, TerraPower may not consider a foreign national from a country if it is impracticable to obtain timely Government export approval.

Job details

Salary Range Level 12: $163,126 - $226,045

Salary Range Level 13: $186,429 - $267,992

• Typically, our employee salaries are within .90 – 1.0 of the mid-point of the posted salary band. Any salary offered within the posted salary band is based on market data and commensurate with the selected individual’s qualifications and experience. This range is specific to Virgina State.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation

• Salary, eligible to participate in discretionary short-term incentive payments

• Comprehensive Medical and Wellness Benefits

• 401k Plan

• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO)

• Generous Holiday Schedule

• Relocation Assistance

• Professional and Educational Support Opportunities

• Flexible Work Schedule

TerraPower Career and Benefits information: https://www.terrapower.com/contact-us/careers/

Please visit www.terrapower.com to apply