Postdoc in nuclear fuel performance (SMR) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Postdoctoral position in applied nuclear physics with focus on irradiation tests of nuclear fuel

The research conducted at the Department of Physics and Astronomy encompasses a wide range of physics topics, distributed over nine divisions. The department is located in the Ångström laboratory and employs nearly 400 people, 100 of whom are doctoral students. It offers a broad physics curriculum to undergraduate and graduate students, participation in nationally and internationally leading projects for researchers, and opportunities for partnership with industry and various outreach activities. Read more on www.physics.uu.se

Within the Division of Applied Nuclear Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, research is conducted within the group for nuclear fuel diagnostics and nuclear control. The research is directed towards the development of methods for studying nuclear fuel after neutron irradiation in a reactor. The research group is also involved in the recently established national competence center ANItA (Academic-industrial Nuclear technology Initiative to Achieve a sustainable energy future), within which this position is advertised. ANItA brings together the Swedish technical and non-technical expertise in nuclear power technology and currently includes Uppsala University, Chalmers, KTH, Vattenfall, Uniper, Fortum, Westinghouse Electric Sweden, Studsvik Nuclear and the Swedish Energy Agency. The work within ANItA aims to, through research, development and education, create a Swedish knowledge and competence base for new nuclear power systems, in particular small modular reactors (SMRs).

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Duties
In this project, the object is to study the performance of nuclear fuel in context of operation of Small Modular Reactors. Dependent on the specific SMR design some differences may appear, such as lower primary pressures and temperatures, lower power density, higher power peaking factor, and increased use of burnable absorber rods and control rod operation. These changes will create a need for nuclear fuel performance data in the new operational regimes, where previous experience of fuel performance is limited.

In this work, you will collaborate closely with nuclear fuel experts from the industry partners in ANItA. Your work will include development of gamma-based techniques for post-irradiation such as gamma-transmission micro-densitometry, gamma scanning and tomography. In addition, you will use of a wide array of Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE) methods in collaboration with experts in hot cell facilities. Your work will result in the characterization of new instruments for PIE, as well as new fuel performance data on parameters of interest such as for example rod-internal burnup, swelling, fission gas release et. c. You will be interacting closely with partners such as Studsvik Nuclear Fuel, Vattenfall Nuclear Fuel, and Westinghouse, to perform nuclear fuel studies of relevance for deployment and use of SMRs.

Requirements

• PhD degree in nuclear technology or nuclear physics or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in nuclear technology or nuclear physics. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Those who have obtained a PhD degree three years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point of the three-year frame period is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

• Good ability to express oneself in spoken and written English

Additional qualifications
The field spans over many topics such as radiation effects on nuclear fuel, radiation simulation and detection, and nuclear imaging. The list below reflects skills and experience that would benefit the project and therefore is meriting to the applicant.

• Knowledge and experience in nuclear energy systems and nuclear fuel cycles
• Familiarity or expertise on nuclear fuel behavior under irradiation in a reactor.
• Knowledge on phenomena such as fuel swelling, fission product migration, fission gas release is valued.
• Experience of radiation transport codes such as MCNP, Serpent or Geant.
• Experience of nuclear fuel performance codes.
• Experience of practical laboratory work, and experiment design.
• Experience with nuclear instrumentation and radiation detectors, digital data acquisition systems, as well as PIE methods.
• Programming skills, e.g. in Python, MATLAB, C or C++.
• Excellent English writing and oral skills.
• Willingness to work for extended periods of time with our collaboration partners.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date in august 2023 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Peter Andersson, phone: +46702256963, email: peter.andersson@physics.uu.se

Please submit your application by 15 May 2023, UFV-PA 2023/1551.

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