Duties

As a Reliability and Risk Analysis you will serve as a higher-level staff specialist providing professional engineering and/or scientific expertise associated with probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) related issues for new and operating reactors including development of policy and guidance, evaluations of applications for new designs and licensing actions, and analysis of plant operating performance using PRA techniques to evaluate safety risk.

The successful candidate will perform the full range of duties. Such duties include but are not limited to:

• Utilizes PRA, reactor systems expertise, and regulatory expertise to perform assigned activities in order to assure the health and safety of the public, to protect the environment, and to achieve the NRC's strategic goals. Considers use of risk insights and a risk-informed performance-based philosophy in all activities.
• Performs technical reviews and prepares safety evaluation reports in support of applications for reactors and licensing actions.
• Prepares new and revised regulations and supporting documentation including statement of consideration, Committee to Review Generic Requirements (CRGR) packages, backfit analyses and any supporting regulatory guidance.
• Supports reactor and vendor audits and inspections to assure compliance with regulatory requirements and safe plant operation.
• Evaluates significant safety concerns that arise from new and operating reactors for their generic impact on licensing and makes recommendations for changing and improving the regulatory process.
• Supports the review of allegations. Provides technical support to the Offices of Enforcement and Investigation to investigate and resolve allegations. Supports preparation and presentation of finds to the allegation review board. Performs interviews, inspections and reviews necessary to understand and resolve allegations. Participates in preparation of reports and letters documenting allegation closeout.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• This is a Drug Testing position.
• U.S. Citizenship Required
• Background investigation leading to a clearance is required for new hires.
• Position subject to security ownership restriction reporting requirements.

You must meet the qualifications for this position by no later than 30 calendar days after the closing date of this announcement and before placement in the position.

Qualifications

In addition to the educational requirements to qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level in the Federal Service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is defined as experience that demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the theory, principles and practices in the area of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) and reactor systems with specialized knowledge of the application of reliability and risk analysis in nuclear facility design, fabrication, construction, analysis, testing, maintenance and operation; knowledge of PRA sufficient to utilize state of the art principles in the analysis of plant operations and events to assess risk significance; and experience in the application of risk to support oversight and event assessment.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

Demonstrated knowledge of structures, systems, component design and general operating characteristics of nuclear reactors. (EXAMPLE: Describe your experience performing reviews and evaluations in the design and functional capability of nuclear power plants to withstand transient and accident conditions.)

DOUBLE WEIGHTED - Demonstrated experience applying the principles, theories, and practices of probabilistic risk analysis in the assessment of new or operating commercial nuclear power reactors. Experience in reviewing risk-informed license amendment requests and pilot risk applications for new or operating reactors should be highlighted. (EXAMPLE: Describe experience, education, and training which demonstrates your knowledge of the principles, theories and practices of engineering or physical science as it relates to the application of reliability and risk analysis in nuclear power facility design, analysis, testing, maintenance and/or operations. Provide examples demonstrating your experience in the application of probabilistic risk analysis for nuclear power plants. Describe your accomplishments in areas such as Levels 1 and 2, internal and external events PRAs; human reliability analysis; common cause failure analysis; and fault tree and event tree modeling. Describe your experience reviewing risk informed license amendment requests and pilot risk applications for operating reactors; applying NRC guidance (i.e., SRP Chapter 19, RG 1.174, RG 1.200) to those applications; resolving issues with the applicant or licensee during these reviews; and writing safety evaluations.)

Demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and experience in the formulation of sound technical judgement on the adequacy of existing and proposed systems and design and operation. (Describe specific experience, training, and accomplishments which demonstrate your ability to formulate technical judgement. Provide several examples of judgements, recommendations, or actions you have taken in regard to the adequacy of reactor systems design or analytical methods used in reactor systems analyses. Describe your ability to identify complex issues and recommend successful approaches for resolution. Highlight examples that demonstrate resourcefulness, initiative, and ingenuity in completing the work.

Ability to communicate information, ideas, and advice in a clear, concise, and logical manner, both orally and in writing, with colleagues, subordinates, executive management, ACRS, the Commission, members of the public, representatives of professional groups, or other Federal or State agencies. (EXAMPLE: Describe specific experience, training and accomplishments which demonstrate your communication skills, both orally and in writing. Describe your ability to lead complex technical discussions and consolidate complex and diverse opinions into concise presentations, memoranda, letters, reports. Describe your ability to formulate balanced and well-founded recommendations. Describe oral and written presentations you have performed within your organization, including published technical documents you have authored. Describe presentations you have made to outside groups including professional organizations, advisory groups, the public, and/or Congress.)

A description of how you possess the specialized experience as well as how you meet the qualifications desired in an ideal candidate should be addressed in your resume. The NRC encourages applicants to provide extensive job experience details in your resume. Applicants may also use the supplemental vacancy question to provide additional information pertaining to specialized experience and ideal candidate criteria.

Education

For 0801 - General Engineering: Candidates for Federal government professional engineering positions must meet certain basic professional knowledge requirements. Generally these knowledge requirements are met by having a bachelor's or higher degree in a relevant professional engineering discipline (e.g., mechanical, metallurgical, materials, nuclear, structural, chemical, electrical) from a school of engineering with at least one professional engineering curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). However, if you do not possess such a professional engineering degree, you may still satisfy the professional knowledge requirements if you have current Professional Engineer (P.E.) registration in one of the relevant disciplines from any U.S. State or Territory; or if you successfully passed an Engineer-in-Training (EIT) written examination administered by a State Board of Engineering Examiners; or if you have either a related professional degree or at least 60 semester hours of specified engineering-related college courses COMBINED WITH at least a year of professional engineering work experience performed under professional engineer supervision and guidance.

Note: Engineering technology degrees are not generally qualifying unless supplemented by other evidence of the individual's professional knowledge (e.g., current P.E. license or EIT examination results, as discussed above).

More detailed information about these alternatives for meeting the knowledge requirements for Federal professional engineering jobs are described in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Qualification Standards Operating Manual which may be accessed at the following website: OPM Qualification Standards for Professional Engineering Positions.

For 1301 - General Physical Science:

A: Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics.

OR

B: Combination of education and experience -- education equivalent to one of the majors shown in A above that included at least 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Additional information

The duty location of this position is Rockville, MD. In general, employees are expected to be in the office 4 days per pay period. Telework schedules are approved, on a case-by-case basis. If selected, telework will be determined in accordance with Agency policy and the Collective Bargaining Agreement, if applicable.

Based on the staffing needs of the agency/area of consideration, additional selections may be made from this vacancy announcement.

To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the NRC will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent that an NRC job announcement includes the requirement that applicants must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to Executive Order 14043, that requirement does not currently apply.

The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. Individuals with disabilities may contact the Selective Placement Coordinator for assistance with the application or hiring process via Disability.Resource@nrc.gov . Deaf applicants may contact the Disability Program Manager by calling the NRC videophone at 240-428-3217.

Individuals who are eligible for non-competitive appointment under an OPM special appointing authority may apply for consideration under a comparable NRC non-competitive appointing authority. Veterans, please visit: http://www.fedshirevets.gov/

Selectee's will be required to complete a "Declaration of Federal Employment", (OF-306), prior to being appointed to determine their suitability for Federal employment and to authorize a background investigation. False statements or responses on your resume or questionnaire can jeopardize your employment opportunity and subject you to disciplinary action, including removal from Federal service.

A transferable security clearance from another agency or a background investigation leading to a clearance is required for all new hires. To begin work at the NRC without a security clearance, you must be granted a temporary waiver of the required clearance, referred to as a 145(b) waiver. To be eligible for a 145(b) waiver you will need a favorable education verification, reference, credit, and criminal history checks. If a wavier is granted, the successful completion of a background investigation and favorable adjudication is required for continued employment. If you have resided outside the U.S. for an extended period of time, the agency may not be able to (1) grant the 145(b) waiver where the required investigation cannot be completed in a timely manner, or (2) achieve timely completion of the background investigation required for a security clearance.

The NRC is a zero tolerance agency with respect to illegal drug use. Individuals selected for this position will be subject to pre-appointment drug testing unless currently in a NRC position subject to random drug testing AND will be subject to random drug testing upon appointment to the NRC.