Industrial Placements - Chemistry

Job Introduction

We’re looking for excellent undergraduates who will help shape the future of our business. If you’re technically minded and your ideas for the future align with ours, we can offer you a world-class opportunity to develop your skills and discover yourself as a future talent in the nuclear industry. We have summer placement opportunities (minimum of 8 weeks) or 12-month industrial placements available. You will work at any of our sites on real projects that make a difference to the industry.

Role Responsibility

Discover Chemistry

Chemists can fulfil a number of different roles within the NNL.

You could be based in a team with over 100 years of experience in the nuclear industry, working on experimental research and development related to actinide chemistry (particularly the transuranic actinides). You could be involved in reprocessing technologies, actinide behaviours in legacy pond wastes, plutonium materials and surface science and actinide coordination chemistry.

Chemists are involved in business development, product innovation, project delivery and environmental, safety, security and quality relating to projects in the industry.

Students may provide support to operating and future reactors systems through analysis of the chemistry occurring in the reactor coolant systems. This could be related to modelling or experiments to understand the movement of radioactive material and so the dose to operators or the impact of chemistry on the operation or corrosion of the reactor.

You may provide support across the nuclear fuel cycle through developing the understanding of radiation chemistry and the impact this might have on plants such as through production of flammable gases, degradation and corrosion of material or reduction in the efficiency of a process.

What will you discover?

The Ideal Candidate

Our work is diverse and calls on a number of different skills and disciplines. We’re looking for people studying Chemical Engineering, Materials, Chemistry, Physics & Mechanical Engineering.

We’ll make sure you have the best experience and learning if you join NNL on your industrial experience placement.

Our placements will typically start in Summer 2017 (June/July), usually for a minimum of 8 weeks although durations are negotiable.

We also offer placements in the academic calendar and over the longer term such as 12 months that best suit the requirements of your course. We can tailor your stay to meet the requirements of your degree.

Students will receive a competitive salary whilst on placement with the NNL and could be based at any of our UK locations. We also offer weekly assistance towards accommodation should you need to live away from home.

Placements contribute towards our resourcing strategy. Successful applicants will be strong candidates for eventually joining our graduate programme.

National Nuclear Laboratory