The US Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Microsoft Corporation are collaborating to streamline the nuclear permitting and licensing application process using Microsoft’s Azure cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) through the National Reactor Innovation Centre (NRIC) provided funding for the project.
INL will leverage a Microsoft-developed solution built with Azure AI services to generate engineering and safety analysis reports, which are submitted as a part of applications for construction permits and operating licences for NPPs. For reactor developers, generating these large, detailed reports is a time-consuming and expensive process that requires compiling safety data from multiple sources. The Azure AI-powered solution will help streamline and accelerate this process.
The technology is designed to ingest and analyse nuclear engineering and safety documents, and generate documentation required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and DOE for nuclear licensing. The tool does not perform analyses on the documents but automates the process of constructing licensing documents for subsequent human verification.
“This is a big deal for the nuclear licensing process,” noted Jess Gehin, Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science & Technology at INL. “Introducing AI technologies will enhance efficiency and accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies.”
Heidi Kobylski, Vice President for Federal Civilian Agencies, at Microsoft, said: “Artificial intelligence technologies can enable a new frontier of innovation and advancement by automating routine processes, accelerating development and freeing scientists and researchers to focus on the real complex challenges affecting our society.”
The tool has wide applicability for nuclear energy-related licensing, including new light water reactors (LWRs) and upgrades to existing LWRs. Azure could be especially useful for licensing advanced reactors, which often have different designs, fuels, coolants and materials compared with the conventional reactors typically reviewed by NRC. The technology can generate reports for any nuclear facility licensed through NRC or DOE authorisation, including nuclear energy test facilities.
“AI holds significant potential to accelerate the process to design, license, and deploy new nuclear energy for the nation’s increasing energy needs,” said Chris Ritter, INL Division Director of Scientific Computing & AI. “INL looks forward to early research to evaluate the applicability of generative AI in the nuclear licensing space.”
This is not the first collaboration between INL and Microsoft. In 2023, INL and Idaho State University (ISU) nuclear engineering students used Azure to develop the world’s first nuclear reactor digital twin – a virtual replica of ISU’s AGN-201 reactor.
In May, President Donald Trump signed several Executive Orders to fast-track the licensing process for new NPPs as AI data centres create a growing demand for energy.
