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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Nuclear Materials Coordinator

💰 $70,000 - $110,000

NuclearMaterials ManagementHealth & SafetyRegulatory Compliance

🎯 Role Definition

The Nuclear Materials Coordinator is an operational and compliance-focused role responsible for the accurate control, tracking, transfer, disposition and regulatory reporting of special nuclear material (SNM), radioactive sources, and other controlled materials. This role serves as the subject matter expert for nuclear material control and accountability (MC&A), coordinates packaging and shipping of radioactive shipments, supports audits and inspections, and ensures strict adherence to NRC, DOE and DOT regulations. The ideal candidate balances strong technical knowledge (radiological safety, MC&A systems, shipping regulations) with excellent documentation, communication and cross-functional coordination skills.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Nuclear Materials Technician / Nuclear Inventory Specialist
  • Radiological Control Technician / Health Physics Technician
  • Materials Management / Logistics Coordinator with hazardous materials experience

Advancement To:

  • Nuclear Materials Manager / MC&A Supervisor
  • Radiological Control Program Manager
  • Regulatory Compliance Manager (Nuclear Programs)

Lateral Moves:

  • Quality Assurance Specialist (Nuclear/Radioactive Materials)
  • Packaging & Transportation Coordinator (RAM shipments)
  • Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Program Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Maintain accurate cradle‑to‑grave accountability for nuclear and radioactive materials, including real‑time inventory tracking, reconciliation, and audit-ready documentation to support DOE/NRC/IAEA reporting requirements.
  • Administer and update the Material Control & Accountability (MC&A) program documentation, procedures, and control plans; develop process improvements to reduce inventory variances and increase regulatory compliance.
  • Coordinate and execute periodic physical inventories and material balance area (MBA) reconciliations, lead reconciliation investigations for material discrepancies, and prepare material discrepancy reports (MDRs).
  • Prepare, submit, and manage regulatory and license required reports (e.g., NMMSS submissions, NRC/DOE notifications, waste manifests, DOT hazmat documentation), ensuring timeliness and accuracy.
  • Oversee packaging, labeling, and shipping of radioactive materials (RAM) and special nuclear material (SNM) by applying DOT, IATA/ICAO, NRC and DOE rules; coordinate with carriers and freight forwarders to ensure compliant transports.
  • Control chain of custody during material transfers between facilities, subcontractors, laboratories and vendors; issue transfer authorizations, track receipts, and validate transfer records and signatures.
  • Review and approve material movement requests and work authorizations to ensure proper approvals, hold points, and required radiological controls are in place prior to movement.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for internal and external audits, inspections and assessments (DOE, NRC, IAEA or client audits); prepare briefing materials, evidence packages, and corrective action plans.
  • Manage and maintain MC&A databases and software (e.g., NMMSS, MC&A modules, inventory management systems); ensure data integrity, perform system reconciliations and user access control.
  • Implement and enforce inventory control processes for receipts, sampling, assay results, transfers, waste generation and disposition, ensuring all chain‑of‑custody and certification requirements are met.
  • Develop and deliver training on material control procedures, shipping requirements, radiation safety basics for handlers, and MC&A responsibilities for laboratory and operations staff.
  • Coordinate with Radiological Control (RadCon) and Health Physics to establish ALARA controls, posting requirements, contamination monitoring and posting of areas for specific material handling operations.
  • Maintain licensing and permit documentation for possession, use, transfer, and disposal of radioactive materials; track license expirations and renewal activities.
  • Support nonconforming material investigations and root cause analyses for inventory variances, implementing corrective/preventive actions and tracking effectiveness.
  • Manage vendor qualification and review vendor shipping paperwork for incoming nuclear materials and certified reference materials to confirm correct classification and documentation.
  • Establish and manage secure storage and access controls for accountable nuclear materials, coordinate with security/safeguards on tamper-evident seals, surveillance, and material movement notifications.
  • Coordinate disposition pathways for excess or waste nuclear materials, interfacing with waste management, treatment vendors and regulators to ensure compliant packaging, certification, and final disposition.
  • Maintain calibration, certification and laboratory assay traceability for instruments and measurement standards used in material accounting and verification activities.
  • Participate in emergency response planning and execution related to loss, theft, or release of accountable materials; support investigations, notifications and corrective actions as required.
  • Prepare and manage periodic management reports and key performance indicators (KPIs) for inventory accuracy, shipments completed, audit findings and corrective action status.
  • Partner with procurement and finance to provide nuclear material cost tracking, material accountability reconciliation for capital projects, and support material control budget planning.
  • Provide technical review and oversight for work packages, maintenance activities and construction tasks affecting material control boundaries and MC&A elements; ensure hold points are enforced.
  • Ensure proper segregation and control of high‑value, security sensitive, or proliferation‑sensitive materials in accordance with safeguards and security requirements.
  • Maintain robust document control for material records, shipping manifests, certificates of analysis, measurement data and disposal documentation; ensure retention schedules match regulatory requirements.

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross‑functional ad‑hoc data requests and prepare inventory trend analyses for leadership to inform procurement and disposition decisions.
  • Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives for material management workflows and electronic data capture to reduce manual entry and improve audit readiness.
  • Collaborate with business units (engineering, operations, procurement) to translate material control needs into system requirements and procedural changes.
  • Participate in project planning and scheduling activities related to facility modifications that impact MC&A boundaries and responsibilities.
  • Assist in developing/updating training materials, SOPs and job aids to support onboarding of new staff to nuclear material handling roles.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Material Control & Accountability (MC&A) program administration and documentation
  • Knowledge of DOE, NRC, DOT, IATA/ICAO radioactive materials regulations and licensing requirements
  • Hands‑on experience conducting physical inventories, reconciliations and discrepancy investigations
  • Experience with NMMSS, MC&A modules, LIMS, SAP/Oracle inventory modules or similar nuclear inventory systems
  • Packaging, labeling and shipping of radioactive materials and understanding of RAM packaging requirements (UN/ISO, Type A/Type B)
  • Chain‑of‑custody management, custody transfer documentation and manifest preparation
  • Familiarity with safeguards & security controls for special nuclear material (SNM) and sensitive sources
  • Radiological safety principles (ALARA), contamination control, survey instrumentation and dose monitoring basics
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, data cleansing) and data reconciliation techniques
  • Record management, document control and retention practice for regulated nuclear records
  • Root cause analysis, nonconformance investigations and corrective/preventive action management
  • Experience preparing for and supporting regulatory audits and inspections (DOE, NRC, IAEA)
  • Ability to read and interpret technical assay reports, certificates of analysis and measurement uncertainty
  • Hazardous materials (HAZMAT) and DOT shipping paperwork preparation and review
  • Basic project management and scheduling to coordinate cross‑functional activities

Soft Skills

  • Strong attention to detail and systematic approach to high‑stakes record keeping
  • Clear written and verbal communication; ability to prepare concise reports and regulatory submittals
  • Customer‑focused coordination skills: ability to interface with operations, safety, security and regulators
  • Problem solving and analytical mindset; comfortable investigating anomalies and driving closure
  • Time and priority management for balancing routine tasks, audits and emergent material movements
  • Integrity and compliance orientation; ethical handling of sensitive and controlled materials
  • Team leadership and training capability; able to coach staff on procedures and best practices
  • Adaptability to changing regulatory and operational environments
  • Diplomacy under pressure when supporting incident response or auditor interactions
  • Collaborative mindset with experience working across multidisciplinary teams

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering, Health Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Logistics, or a related technical discipline; or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering, Health Physics, Radiochemistry, or related field.
  • Professional certifications such as Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM), Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) certificate, or MC&A specific training are advantageous.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Nuclear Engineering
  • Health Physics / Radiation Protection
  • Radiochemistry / Materials Science
  • Logistics, Supply Chain or Records Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years of progressive experience in nuclear materials management, radiological control, inventory control or logistics in a regulated nuclear environment.

Preferred: 5+ years of direct MC&A experience with documented experience supporting DOE/NRC regulated facilities, demonstrated success managing nuclear shipments, and hands‑on use of MC&A or NMMSS systems. Active security clearance is a plus where required.

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