DeepEye, a South Korean artificial intelligence startup, has completed automated flaw inspections at the Barakah NPP in the United Arab Emirates. This marks the first time a South Korean company has exported AI-driven maintenance services to an overseas nuclear facility. DeepEye used its AI technology to perform non-destructive testing (NDT) on thousands of heat exchanger tubes, specifically targeting the condensers and high-pressure feedwater heaters at all four units. NDT sends eddy currents through those tubes and analyses the resulting signals to detect flaws.
DeepEye secured the maintenance contract after competing against established European rivals and other technical firms. Previous contracts had gone to Croatian and French firms. DeepEye’s software automates the detection of microscopic surface flaws, cracks, and anomalies in nuclear pipelines and structures. This eliminates human interpretation bias, reduces inspection time, and vastly increases defect detection accuracy.
DeepEye, founded in 2022, automated the inspection work using DeepAgent, an AI-based non-destructive testing solution it developed in-house. The AI analyses every signal collected by the inspection equipment and automatically flags segments with abnormal readings. Workers then review the flaw candidates and the reasoning the AI presents before making the final call on whether the equipment is defective. Nawah Energy, the operator of the Barakah plant, was reportedly satisfied with DeepEye’s inspection results. Having completed its first service contract, DeepEye will return to the UAE in the fourth quarter of this year for further testing.
DeepEye took part in the project as a partner of Soosan Industries, the main contractor for planned preventive maintenance at Barakah. Team Korea if hoping to win overseas projects on the strength of AI for nuclear plant maintenance. “Until now, foreign companies such as Zetec of the US have held the lead in the market for nuclear maintenance software, but there is still no clear frontrunner in nuclear-related AI,” said DeepEye CEO Kim Ki-soo. “AI developed by Korean companies with real expertise can absolutely take an early lead in the global market.”
DeepEye is 2,000th corporation founded under South Korea’s research institute framework. Research institute corporations refer to the corporations established within the research and development special zones based on the technologies of public research institutions such as government-funded research institutes, specialised production technology research institutes, universities, and public institutions. They are representative examples of a commercialisation model where public research institutions supply technology while participating as shareholders leading the commercialization of that technology.
Minister of Science and ICT Yoo Sang-im said: “Achieving the milestone of 2,000 research institute corporations is an accomplishment achieved through the co-growth of national research and development (R&D) and regional technology commercialisation. We will continue to foster research institute corporations that lead the future centred on national strategic technologies and contribute to realising a science and technology powerhouse.”
The Ministry of Science and ICT noted that DeepEye was founded with technology from Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) Corporation, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The technology was created by combining UNIST’s AI technology with the non-destructive testing detection technology KAERI, using KHNP’s databases. It received certification from the US Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for AI-based non-destructive inspection, establishing a foundation for exports to global nuclear power operators. The global non-destructive nuclear inspection market is valued at approximately KRW7,000bn ($5bn).
