The Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) is responsible for leading and administering Standard Nuclear's radiation protection program across manufacturing, laboratory, and controlled radiological operations. This role provides the technical oversight, program ownership, and day-to-day field presence needed to ensure work involving radioactive materials is planned and performed safely, compliantly, and in accordance with approved procedures and applicable regulatory requirements.
The RSO serves as the primary technical authority for radiation safety and works closely with operations, engineering, quality, fuel development, laboratory personnel, and leadership. The position oversees radiological controls, personnel and area monitoring, contamination control, radiation work planning, dosimetry, training, records, and response to radiological events while driving continuous improvement of the radiation protection program as operations scale.
RESPONSIBILITIESRadiation Protection Program Leadership - Own, implement, and continuously improve the site radiation protection program, including policies, procedures, technical bases, and program controls.
- Serve as the site's Radiation Safety Officer and primary technical resource for radiation protection matters, providing guidance to employees, contractors, and leadership.
- Establish radiological requirements and controls for work involving radioactive material, radiation-generating equipment, and controlled areas.
- Maintain authority to stop or suspend radiological work when conditions are unsafe, controls are inadequate, or regulatory or procedural requirements are not being met.
Radiological Controls & Monitoring - Oversee contamination control, radiation surveys, area monitoring, posting and access controls, personnel monitoring, and dosimetry activities.
- Develop and maintain practices, exposure reduction strategies, and radiological work controls for routine and non-routine activities.
- Review radiological conditions, job hazards, and work scope to determine appropriate controls, PPE, monitoring, and hold points before work begins.
- Evaluate radiation and contamination data, identify trends or adverse conditions, and implement corrective or preventive actions as needed.
Regulatory Compliance, Licensing & Records - Maintain compliance with applicable NRC, Agreement State, DOE, and company radiation protection requirements, as applicable to site activities.
- Support radioactive material license implementation, amendments, renewals, reports, and correspondence, and interface with regulators during inspections or technical reviews as required.
- Maintain complete and audit-ready radiation protection records, including surveys, dosimetry, instrument calibration, training, material use, incidents, and required reports.
- Lead preparation for internal and external audits, inspections, and assessments and ensure timely resolution of findings related to radiation safety.
Radiological Work Planning, Events & Emergency Response - Partner with operations, engineering, and technical teams to incorporate radiological controls into work planning, facility changes, equipment installation, maintenance, and process development.
- Provide field oversight for radiological work and high-risk activities, including review of work packages, permits, procedures, and pre-job planning.
- Lead or support investigations of radiological events, abnormal conditions, contamination events, personnel exposures, or procedural deviations, including root cause and corrective action activities.
- Support radiological emergency preparedness and response, including event assessment, notifications, surveys, recovery actions, and post-event documentation.
Training, Instrumentation & Program Development - Develop, maintain, and support delivery of radiation safety and radiological worker training appropriate to employee responsibilities and site hazards.
- Ensure radiation detection and monitoring instruments are selected, maintained, calibrated, function-tested, and appropriate for their intended use.
- Provide technical direction to radiological control technicians or other personnel performing radiation protection activities.
- Develop scalable radiation protection systems, metrics, and reporting processes that support safe growth of manufacturing and laboratory operations.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - Bachelor's degree in Health Physics, Radiation Protection, Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
- 5+ years of progressive experience in radiation protection, health physics, radiological controls, or nuclear operations within a regulated environment.
- Demonstrated experience administering or supporting a radiation protection program involving radioactive materials, contamination control, personnel monitoring, dosimetry, surveys, and radiological work controls.
- Working knowledge of applicable NRC, Agreement State, DOE, or other radiological regulatory requirements and the ability to interpret and implement requirements within operating procedures.
- Experience with ALARA planning, radiological hazard assessments, exposure control, contamination events, incident investigation, and corrective actions.
- Experience with radiation detection instrumentation, survey techniques, calibration requirements, and interpretation of radiological data.
- Experience supporting regulatory inspections, audits, licensing activities, or formal radiation safety program assessments is strongly preferred.
- Strong technical writing, communication, and organizational skills with the ability to work effectively across operations, engineering, quality, laboratory, and leadership teams.
- Previous experience serving as an RSO, Deputy RSO, health physicist, radiation protection lead, or equivalent role in nuclear fuel, commercial nuclear, DOE, national laboratory, radiopharmaceutical, or other regulated radiological operations is preferred.
BENEFITS - Health, Dental & Vision Insurance
- Disability and Life Insurance
- Paid Time Off and Holidays
WORK ENVIRONMENT This role is based on-site in Oak Ridge, TN and involves regular work in manufacturing, laboratory, and controlled radiological areas. The position requires active engagement in operational environments, including presence on the production floor and direct oversight of radiological work activities.
Work may involve radioactive materials, radiation-producing equipment, contamination areas, sampling and survey activities, and use of required PPE and dosimetry. Adherence to site safety, quality, radiological, environmental, and operational procedures is required. Reasonable accommodation will be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
