Duties

Summary

This position are in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR), Division of Risk Assessment (DRA), PRA Licensing Branch A (APLA). The supervisor is Robert Pascarelli. If additional vacancies occur within the division, additional selections may be made. This position is in the Bargaining Unit. Selectee is subject to Office of Government Ethics Confidential Financial Disclosure reporting requirements.

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Responsibilities

As a Senior Reliability and Risk Analyst, you will serve as a leading technical authority and senior-level professional staff member in charge of the most complex assignments 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. Utilizes PRA, reactor systems expertise, and regulatory expertise to perform the following 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. Such duties include but are not limited to:

Lead technical reviews and prepares safety evaluation reports in support of applications for reactors and licensing actions (e.g. amendments, topical reports, and exemptions from regulations).

Review risk analyses prepared by regional Senior Reactor Analysts and performs independent PRA analysis.

Lead preparation of new and revised regulations and supporting documentation including statements of consideration, Committee to Review Generic Requirements (CRGR) packages, backfit analyses per 50.109, and any supporting regulatory guidance.

Lead creation or updates of standard review plans and other guidance documents to support review of licensing submittals.

Develop new and novel approaches to further risk-inform NRR applications and processes.

Represent NRR at agency-wide and industry forums on risk-informed policy, licensing, and inspections issues.

Provide technical leadership in the reviews and evaluations of PRAs of design certification and combined operating license applications for various new reactor designs.

Use insights gained from the PRA analysis of operating reactors to work with reliability and risk analysts in NRR, RES, NRO, and the regional senior reactor analysts and develop recommendations to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in processes related risk-informed decision-making.

Travel Required

Occasional travel - Less than 25%.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
15

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• This is a Drug Testing position.
• Subject to the 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. This position requires completed qualifications as a Reliability and Risk Analyst prior to or within a reasonable period after placement in the position.

Qualifications

In order to qualify for this position, you must have at least one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (GG-14) 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.

A description of how you possess the specialized experience should be addressed in your resume, responses to the vacancy questions, and in the additional space provided for your supplemental response.

Education

GG-0801 (General Engineering Series) and GG-0840 (Nuclear Engineering Series):

Basic Requirements:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR

B. Combination of education and experience: college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by meeting additional OPM requirements.

GG-1301, (General Physical Science Series):

Basic Requirements:

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

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

When the application process is complete, your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the job requirements. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume and responses to any vacancy questions to determine your level of knowledge, skill and ability related to the job requirements. If you are among the top candidates for this position, your application will be referred to the hiring manager.

Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to submit a thorough resume that directly relates to this position.
To preview questions please click here .

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
L Access Authorization

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

As a NRC employee you are required to submit your most recent Rating of Record (Performance Appraisal) or a statement saying that one is not available. You may do so either electronically, following the instructions below (preferred method), or by sending one copy by e-mail to:

Lindsey Redden, HR Specialist
email: lindsey.redden@nrc.gov

All supplemental documents can now be collected electronically and should be submitted before the closing date of this vacancy announcement. File uploads are limited to 3MB in size per document. If your file size exceeds 3MB it will not upload. You can reduce the file size by using the reduce file size feature in Adobe Acrobat before upload You have three choices for submitting your supplemental documents:

1. Use the "USAJOBs" feature to download documents from your USAJOBs portfolio; or
2. use the "Upload" feature to upload documents directly from your computer. The following types of documents can be uploaded:
.gif, .jpeg, .png, .rtf, .pdf, and .doc; or
3. use the "Fax" feature to print the Fax Cover Sheet and fax it, along with your supplemental documents to 1-571-258-4052.

If you plan to submit copies of your educational transcripts, please do so under the transcripts heading.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.