Microsoft Teams Up With U.S. Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Permits
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Filing paperwork for a nuclear power plant isn’t quick, or easy. It can take years just to get through the permit process. But Microsoft and Idaho National Laboratory think AI can help fix that.
As Reuters reports, the two have teamed up to see if AI tools can draft some of the complex technical reports that nuclear projects need for approval. These aren’t short documents, some run into the hundreds of pages and require exact engineering and safety analysis.
The AI models were trained on real application data from past projects. Once a draft is generated, human experts step in to check and polish each section. “It’s created for human refinement,” said Microsoft’s Nelli Babayan. So yes, people are still in charge.
This all follows a recent executive order aimed at shortening the nuclear licensing process. The White House wants to cut the timeline down to 18 months, largely to meet the growing energy demand from AI data centers.
The same system could also help current nuclear plants. If a facility wants to boost its output, it has to file detailed amendment requests. According to Scott Ferrara at INL, there’s already data from more than 80 past upgrades, and the AI can tap into that to speed things up.
If this works, the AI won’t just save time. It might help the U.S. get more clean energy online faster.
