How to apply for Fuel Performance Engineer

About Oklo

Oklo is developing next-generation fast fission technology and recycling nuclear waste to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy. The company is deploying Aurora powerhouses, which means fuel performance work directly supports reactor design and licensing. This is a chance to work on novel fuel designs rather than incremental changes to existing light-water reactor fuel.

About the role

As a Fuel Performance Engineer, you will analyze current and novel fuel designs under normal and off-normal conditions, develop modeling and simulation tools, and verify those tools. You will interface with reactor design, fuel fabrication, and licensing teams, and support experimental fuel campaigns. Your analyses will directly inform whether Oklo's Aurora fuel designs can be licensed and operated safely.

A typical day

A typical day might involve running finite element simulations of fuel behavior, writing Python scripts to post-process results, and documenting your findings in a technical report. You could also meet with the reactor design or licensing team to discuss how your analysis affects their work. Some days may be spent verifying a new modeling tool against experimental data or preparing for an experimental fuel campaign.

Who Oklo is looking for

• Has at least 3 years of experience with multi-physics system performance analyses, ideally in a nuclear or high-temperature materials context.
• Is proficient with finite element simulation software such as Ansys or Abaqus, and can apply it to material behavior under irradiation or thermal loads.
• Can write object-oriented code (Python or C++) to build or improve modeling and simulation tools, not just use existing software.
• Has experience with material analysis, and bonus points for nuclear fuel performance analysis or familiarity with metallic fuels.

Tips for this application

• In your resume, quantify your multi-physics analysis experience: name the software used, the physical phenomena modeled, and the outcome (e.g., validated a thermal-mechanical model against experimental data).
• Show evidence of verification and validation work. Describe how you checked a model against benchmarks, analytical solutions, or experimental results, because this is a core responsibility.
• Highlight any software development you have done for engineering analysis. Mention the language, the purpose of the tool, and how it improved efficiency or accuracy.
• If you have nuclear fuel experience, even coursework or a project, put it near the top. If not, emphasize transferable experience with high-temperature materials or irradiation effects.
• Tailor your cover letter to Oklo's fast reactor and fuel recycling mission. Explain why analyzing fuel for a fast fission reactor interests you specifically, not just nuclear engineering in general.

What to cover in your cover letter

Explain how your multi-physics analysis experience applies to fuel performance under normal and off-normal conditions. Describe a specific finite element simulation you ran and what you learned from it. Detail any code you wrote to improve a modeling workflow, including the language and impact. If you have nuclear fuel or metallic fuel experience, state it clearly and connect it to Oklo's Aurora fuel design.

Research before applying

• Read Oklo's public materials on the Aurora powerhouse design, including the fuel type and expected operating conditions.
• Look up Oklo's licensing activities with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, especially any documents related to fuel qualification or analysis methods.
• Research metallic fuel performance issues such as fuel-cladding chemical interaction, swelling, and fission gas release, since these are likely relevant to Oklo's fuel.
• Find out what modeling and simulation tools Oklo uses or develops. Check job postings, papers, or presentations by Oklo engineers for clues.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• Walk through a multi-physics analysis you performed. What were the coupled physics, what software did you use, and how did you validate the results?
• How would you approach analyzing a novel fuel design for off-normal conditions when little experimental data exists?
• Describe a time you developed a modeling or simulation tool. What problem did it solve and how did you verify it?
• What do you know about metallic fuel behavior or fast reactor fuel performance? How would you learn what you do not know?
• How would you document a fuel performance analysis so that a licensing reviewer could follow your assumptions and conclusions?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Do not submit a generic nuclear engineering resume. This role requires finite element simulation, multi-physics analysis, and programming, so those skills must be visible.
• Do not claim experience with nuclear fuel performance if you do not have it. Instead, describe how your material analysis or simulation experience transfers.
• Do not ignore the software development aspect. If you only use commercial software and never write code, explain how you have automated or extended analyses in another way.