AI Is Fast Becoming Part of America's Nuclear Power Industry

The nuclear industry, long known for playing it safe, is bringing in AI fast. According to IEEE Spectrum, nearly all 94 US nuclear reactors have been offered AI tools, and most have said yes.

Atomic Canyon, based in California, launched NIVA, a virtual assistant for the nuclear industry, now open to all US reactors. AI startup Nuclearn works with more than 65 US partners, while Microsoft and NVIDIA are applying AI to the whole life of nuclear plants, from permits and design to building and daily operations.

Nuclearn co-founder Jerrold Vincent gives two reasons: AI data centers need more power, and AI is great at handling the industry's complex rules and paperwork. With fewer young people joining the field, AI also helps pass on decades of know-how.

Atomic Canyon trained its model on 53 million pages of public regulatory data. CEO Trey Lauderdale says AI won't run nuclear plants, since humans will stay in charge for a very long time.