Hitachi has developed a “Metaverse Platform for Nuclear Power Plants” that uses a metaverse and AI technology to streamline NPP safety enhancement, new plant construction, maintenance, and decommissioning. The platform recreates NPPs in a metaverse using high-precision point cloud data and 3D CAD data in order to enhance productivity in information sharing, schedule coordination, and asset management among stakeholders such as electric utilities and contractors.
Equipment installation or modification in NPPs requires precise planning and reliable execution to complete on-site work within the shortest possible timeframe. However, access may be restricted by regulations, limiting the frequency and duration of site surveys. In some cases, controlled zones are not accessible during operation. These constraints require extensive coordination among stakeholders, with electric utilities playing a central role in sharing information and revising work plans.
Hitachi notes that, following the Fukushima disaster, all Japan’s NPPs were shut down for extended periods. During this time, the industry experienced a wave of retirements among highly skilled and knowledgeable personnel, a decline in on-site training opportunities for new plant construction, and a shrinking labour force due to demographic changes such as an ageing population and declining birthrate. These factors have made knowledge transfer and productivity enhancement pressing challenges across the nuclear sector.
Hitachi therefore developed the Metaverse Platform for Nuclear Power Plants “to further enhance productivity by enabling accurate understanding and seamless sharing of site conditions among stakeholders, real-time schedule coordination, and reduction of rework”. It is also designed to serve as the foundation of a Data-Driven Power Plant, “which we aim to establish to address the diverse needs and challenges faced by electric utilities – such as improving equipment reliability, enhancing work management, and increasing operational efficiency–through data-driven value creation and problem-solving.
This new platform embodies Lumada 3.0, which uses Hitachi’s domain knowledge and AI to convert data into value to solve challenges faced by customers and society, and was developed together with GlobalLogic as One Hitachi, integrating Hitachi’s decades-long expertise in the nuclear energy business with its Group-wide advanced digital technologies. The platform facilitates the collection, aggregation, and analysis of on-site data, thereby supporting optimal investment planning and plant maintenance through data-driven insights.
Key features of the Metaverse Platform for NPPs include: Point Cloud Data & CAD alignment to recreate NPPs in a metaverse; AI search; multi-user collaboration; engineering support tools; secure communication through encrypted interactions limited to authorised users.
The Metaverse Platform will facilitate optimal investment and maintenance planning by detecting failures in advance and predicting future equipment conditions, thereby realising data-driven decision-making. This enables Hitachi to address the diverse needs and challenges faced by electric utilities – such as improving equipment reliability, enhancing work management, and increasing operational efficiency – through data-driven value creation and problem-solving.
